06/12/24 Labour exploitation, seasonal workers, a life changing experience.

With few British people wanting to pick fruit and veg, for many many years now workers have come from abroad to work the season. It's been something of a vexed issue, with complaints about the way the system works and the number of people allowed to use it, as well as concerns about the exploitation of workers. After Brexit a new seasonal workers visa scheme was introduced. The Government has confirmed that next year 43,000 such visas will be available for people in horticulture, with a further 2,000 for the poultry industry. But when you rely on the company that has brought you over, it can be hard to then complain to them. Dr Natalie Sedacca from Durham University discusses the issues facing some migrant workers, and what can be done to protect them.

For this Sunday's edition of Radio 4's On Your Farm Charlotte Smith went to meet the Taylor-Davies family who farm near Ross On Wye. This was a fairly usual cereals farm which Ben Taylor Davies took on from his father. He was running it in a fairly conventional way, until things changed radically, and his life changed forever.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.