A furious Neil Parish laid into Kevin Foster, the immigration minister, for ignoring a recommendation to make it easier to bring in EU butchers and other workers – leading to a huge shortage.

"These are animals that they have reared, fed, looked after, cared for. To actually then kill something that's perfectly healthy to then go in the bin - it's just criminal," the head of the National Pig Association told Sky News.

Pig farmers in Northumberland will be among those forced to “slaughter their own animals” to dispose of them if the situation facing the industry does not change, the chairman of the National Pig Association has warned.

‘There’s nowhere for the pigs to go and it could trigger the worst case scenario, where they are put down on the farm and taken away.’

The British meat industry is warning that hundreds of thousands of pigs may have to be culled within weeks unless the government issues more visas to allow slaughterers into the country.

Increased costs and administrative hurdles are stifling the movement of horses and livestock in what were once thriving industries.

The British economy is beginning to understand what it is to be tipped over the cliff edge. Cries of alarm and distress flares are going up across the length and breadth of the country, and from industries as diverse as fishing and finance and from pigs to paint.

‘Like a ghost town’: Food boss laments collapse in trade at fish market as exports to EU face barriers.

Government ‘are standing by and watching this happen’, a leading supplier said.

Britain's turkey farmers will do their best to ensure Christmas "is as normal as it can be" but shortages are likely, an industry representative has warned.

First it was a lack of truck drivers that crippled gas stations. Now Britain is facing a shortage of food processing workers that’s become so severe farmers have started culling 120,000 pigs.

Leading figures in the livestock industry say that the animals face being killed and burned because Priti Patel has failed to include the butchers on a list of shortage occupations.

The National Pig Association has said that healthy animals are being destroyed following the exodus of EU workers as there are not enough people employed in slaughterhouses.

Farmers have held a protest outside government offices in York over claims the pig industry is at risk of collapse.

Retailers and farmers explain what shoppers should expect as Brexit and supply chain problems bite.

Pig farmers are facing a "human disaster" due to a shortage of abattoir workers, the National Farmer's Union has said.

Lucrative live shellfish trade also hit hard, with consultation over further restrictions on live animal exports ending soon.

Vets working to tackle pigs’ overcrowding in farms have said Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not taking the abattoir labour shortage seriously, and soon ‘mass culling’ would be the only option left to farmers.

Great Britain’s beef producers export to Ireland before reimporting, while pork processors consider the Netherlands.

British cattle farmers are sending supplies to Ireland to be carved into cuts, according to the chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), before being brought back to the UK for consumption.

The introduction of new Brexit checks at the start of the year continued to hamper UK meat exports to the EU in February, new trade figures show.

Farmers say Brexit has created tremendous trade hurdles, warning of a ‘crisis’ ahead.

Pig farmers are in a “desperate” position – with culls of thousands of healthy animals and producers quitting the industry, they warned as a summit was held on the crisis.

Thousands of healthy pigs may be culled if the government does not step in and tackle labour shortages at Britain’s slaughterhouses and processing plants, meat producers have warned. / It could result in perfectly good meat going to waste, says National Pig Association.

Farming groups have been left 'shocked and dismayed' after Boris Johnson played down the prospect of a mass cull of pigs due to a shortage of plant staff.

A "potentially disastrous" backlog of thousands of pigs is building up on East Anglian farms due to labour shortages at meat processing factories, said industry leaders.

Future trade deals with the US must not allow imports of pork that would fail to meet British production standards, the National Pig Association (NPA) has warned.

Minister under fire for rejecting moves to bring in EU farm workers – as vegetable planting plunges 25%.

Pig farmers are in a “desperate” position – with culls of thousands of healthy animals and producers quitting the industry, they warned as a summit was held on the crisis.

The UK food industry said the main impact of such a departure from the bloc will be on fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables, which cannot be stockpiled by retailers or consumers and are largely imported from the EU during the winter months.

The National Pig Association is calling for urgent action ahead of an emergency summit with the Government.

A "perfect storm" of Covid impacts and post-Brexit bureaucracy threaten to plunge British pig farmers into a crisis, an industry body has warned.

The National Pig Association (NPA) has written to Defra Secretary George Eustice over Brexit upheavals.

‘Desperate’ farmers face mass destruction of animals, industry body warns.