The Challenges Facing UK Farmers from Brexit

The prospect of exit from the European Union faces UK farmers with a number of additional challenges to add to those they are already coping with in terms of income and price volatility and increases the uncertainties that they face. It is difficult to predict the consequences of Brexit for agriculture with any precision, given the absence of contingency plans by the UK Government and the uncertainties that would follow a vote to leave. However, it is difficult to see that they would, on balance, be advantageous. CAP Pillar 1 farm subsidies would be placed in jeopardy and there would not be a substantial reduction in the level of regulation. The availability of plant protection products could become more restricted and firms would be reluctant to develop distinctive products purely for the UK market. Brexit would serve as a distraction from the many practical challenges facing the UK farming sector. It will not eliminate many of the structural and competitive challenges facing UK and other European farmers such as relationships with supermarkets and processors, the scale of operations and the Russian import ban.