Farmers, EU and Brexit

Brexit will impact heavily on farming.

• Changes to the amount of goods allowed to enter this country with low trade taxes (tariff rate quotas) could adversely affect many farmers. The 86 agricultural product quotas might have to be renegotiated individually.
• Fruit and vegetable growers rely on EU labour. After the referendum, migrant farm labour fell by 30%. Without free movement, many producers will go under.
• Farmers depend on European subsidies, which over all provide over half of farming income. The government is very unlikely to continue subsidies in their current form.

Every year €50bn (£43bn) is paid by European taxpayers of all income levels, and paid out disproportionately to the very rich. With money paid by the hectare, the more land you own, the more cash you get. In England, the government does not limit the money a landowner can receive. These funds are not reserved for farming; claims have been made for land used to breed racehorses and shoot grouse.

For most farm subsidies, land must be kept bare, effectively clearing wildlife habitats. Sheep grazing on infertile land strip away most edible plants and much of the soil from the land. In the UK, while at a rough estimate sheep occupy roughly the same amount of land as used to grow all the cereals, oilseeds, potatoes, fruit, vegetables and other crops, lamb and mutton provide just 1.2% of our diet, while imports and exports of sheep meat are almost exactly the same.

Once this spending appears in our national accounts, it will become politically unsustainable. However we should not follow New Zealand's example: in 1984, subsidies were suddenly stopped, small and medium-sized farms went under, and the government protected the remaining producers by scrapping environmental laws. Instead we should continue to provide public money for public benefit – restoring ecosystems, preventing flooding downstream, and bringing children and adults back into contact with the living world. Rules should be strong enough to ensure that farmers can no longer pollute rivers, strip soil from the land, wipe out pollinators and other wildlife, and destroy the features of the countryside with impunity.

In return, if farmers have to meet market forces, the market should be fair. We need to limit the power of chain stores (even, when needed, breaking them up): currently farmers get only 9% of the value of their produce sold in supermarkets.
 
Read in full: Of course farmers fear Brexit, but it could save the British countryside by George Monbiot in The Guardian, 11 January 2016