Farming family faces some tough choices
THERE’S no escaping the fact that farming is likely to be one of the sectors set to feel the biggest impact from Brexit.
The majority of farming rules and regulations have come from Brussels for the past 40 years – and while some view change as a scary portent of doom, others see it as a great opportunity to tailor policy to better suit farming in Scotland.
While I would imagine we’ve all cursed some apparently unnecessary regulation drawn up over the past four decades, there’s no guarantee we wouldn’t have been saddled with something equally as daft if it had been put together by our politicians at home. However, Brexit is now on the cards. But the prospect of a second independence referendum which was raised last week might offer a bit of a choice on who will actually take these decisions in the future.
For the farming world, it could be a particularly difficult choice to make.
In the run up to the last Indyref, farming was probably one of the sectors keenest to remain part of the UK – and while by no means every farmer thought like that, I think it fair to say that they were in the majority. There were several reasons for this. There has always been a fair bit of cross- border fertilisation between English and Scottish farming families and many have friends and relatives scattered across much of the UK.
But for those who didn’t want to admit to a sentimental attachment, there was also the argument that it made sound business sense to remain together and have continued access – without borders or barriers – to 53 million customers in the UK and 750 million in the EU. The risk of losing both just seemed to be too big a gamble.
This time round, though, with the UK Government giving a clear indication we’re heading for a hard Brexit and coming out of the single market, there’s going to be some real soul-searching on the cards.
So alongside the “who do we trust the most” (or least) argument in choosing, and the emotional tugs of friends and relations in different parts of the UK, there’s going to be some really tough decisions to take on the business front.
For, while Europe takes the vast majority of UK food exports, most of the food “exported” from Scotland actually goes to customers south of the border.
So, whatever happens with Indyref 2, dealing with new borders is going to be a big issue in the future.