Brexit modifications linked to ‘collapse in confidence’ for UK farmers in meals safety disaster | EUROtoday

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A mixture of 18 months of dangerous climate, Brexit and different worldwide occasions have left confidence in British farming at an all-time low, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has revealed.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw has warned that the collapse in confidence has seen 7,000 agricultural companies shut down since 2019 and is now imperilling meals safety in Britain.

The NFU’s annual Farmer Confidence Survey was taken between November 2023 and January this 12 months, and Mr Bradshaw famous that if it had been taken as we speak the phrase “crisis” would should be added.

He described a “perfect storm” together with volatility attributable to the conflict in Ukraine and the consequences of covid. While he didn’t point out Brexit by title Mr Bradshaw listed quite a lot of post-Brexit modifications together with to the subsidy regime and new worldwide commerce offers.

The NFU president blamed 18 months of unusually moist climate for a lot of the difficulties but additionally listed quite a lot of issues attributable to Brexit, together with the Australia and New Zealand commerce offers which include a aggressive drawback for the UK due to Britain’s larger requirements.

However, prime of the listing of issues was the phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), the continuation of the EU subsidy which had supported farms across the UK.

The survey confirmed that this was the primary subject for farmers with 86 p.c naming it as a critical concern.

BPS is being changed by the Environmental Land Management Scheme however funds have dropped by 50 p.c at a time when farmers are having to borrow extra.

Mr Bradshaw stated: “We have been clear as the NFU for some time of our concern that the move away from the BPS to the public money for public good, while very well-intentioned, has taken food production for granted.

“Our concern is that if members don’t have confidence then we as a country can’t deliver food security. We have all political parties say that food security is national security. If they really mean these words they need to ask themselves what actions they need to take to rebuild farmer confidence.”

He warned “believing we can import our way out of this problem is naive at best and foolish at worst.”

He added: “We need a long-term plan for how we are going to feed 70 million people on an island.”

Mr Bradshaw pointed to a different post-Brexit subject on immigration that “we still don’t have a seasonal worker scheme for next year.”

This subject has seen EU residents, who used to come back and choose fruit, cease making the journey following the UK leaving the EU.

The survey exhibits that brief and mid-term confidence is at its lowest since data started in 2010. Because of this insecurity, manufacturing intentions have additionally plummeted with all farming sectors anticipating to lower manufacturing over the subsequent 12 months.

The relentless moist climate has performed a giant half, with 82 per cent of respondents saying their farm companies have suffered damaging impacts, with blended farms, arable farms and dairy farms having taken the most important hits.