Small producers likely to suffer most from ‘no deal’
While accepting that a revocation of Article 50 is unlikely, a three-month deferral and “no deal” taken off the table would be preferable to the “catastrophic” prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU on 29 March.
After speaking to farmers on a visit to United Auctions mart in Stirling yesterday, rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said Brexit had forced producers to cope with uncertainty and unstable conditions which were affecting all aspects of the industry: “And the worry is that while all sectors are suffering, it could be the small producers who suffer disproportionately from the chaos caused by Brexit.”
Ewing said that while the Scottish Government was doing all it could to make life easier for farmers, it had no direct control over the way the Brexit negotiations had been handled.
He said that while his party would still want to see Brexit halted altogether, it had been realistic enough to realise that compromiseswere sometimes needed.
“And we while we have been flexible enough to realise this, our position remains that we should stay within the single market and remain within the customs union – adopting broadly a Norway plus option.”
He said that such a “Brexit Lite” approach would ensure two major wins for the industry: “It would not then face the threat of differential tariff rates on products leaving the UK and those coming in which would totally disrupt trade within the UK, nor would
we lose the ability to export freely with our major customers in Europe.”
Instancing the level of disruption already affecting the industry, United Auction managing director George Purves said that the rush among farmers in the Republic of Ireland to get their cattle onto the market before the originally cut-off date on 29 March had seen slaughterings rise substantially – and supplies entering the UK growing accordingly.
He said: “This has this resulted in the decline in prices paid for Scottish beef by processors and wholesalers – one which is now beginning to knock on down into the store sale prices.”
With the annual round of store sales entering full swing, Purves said many of the big cattle finishers in Scotland who simply had to continue buying to keep throughput going, even in the face of falling returns, had been operating at a loss in recent months.
“And while they have tried to keep the trade in forward stores steady, there are signs that the store trade is also beginning to slip – which, if it continues, could have considerable consequences for the sector.”