Highlighting the Brexit concerns for agriculture

If months of media coverage and comment haven’t been enough to alert Scotland’s farming sector to the huge scale of the changes likely to be brought about in the industry by Brexit, politicians and industry experts will be out in force to hammer the message home today.

Central to discussion will be a major new report to be launched at Agriscot this morning which outlines the main areas of concern to Scottish farm businesses.

Forming part of the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board’s (AHDB) series on the risks and opportunities offered by Brexit, the Scotlandfocused report was written in collaboration with QMS and SRUC.

Welcoming the publication, rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said: “Let’s be clear, Brexit will have a significant impact on the day-to-day running of every farm and croft across Scotland.”

“It will affect the level of future support payments our farmers and crofters receive, whether they operate a small hill farm or large lowland farm. It will impact the fruit and vegetable sector, which relies on the hard work of EU migrant labour to harvest its crop.”

He said it would also alter 0 AHDB’S David Swales highlighted questions farmers’ ability to trade freely with the world’s largest single market – and while Brexit’s impact might not be uniform, it would be felt across all agricultural sectors and regions.

“It is therefore vital our farmers, crofters and growers are well informed and start to really think about the steps they can take to safeguard their businesses to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future,” he added.

David Swales, the AHDB’S head of strategic insight, said that while the implications of the report should be taken on board by policy-makers at Westminster and Holyrood, the work raised important questions for Scotland’s farmers and growers.

He continued: “Those businesses that have thought about the possible range of outcomes, have considered the options they can take to deal with them and have a plan for any eventuality are most likely to succeed.”

He said the key questions Scottish farmers should be asking themselves were: l Are we making time to take a hands-off view of the business? l Do we know our costs and how they compare? l Is the business providing sufficient profit on a five-year rolling average before direct payment? l Do we have a plan that takes into account different payment scenarios? What skills does the business need?