The UK's departure from the European Union has unleashed a perfect storm for British farmers, as new trade deals and shifting market dynamics hammer home-grown food producers. For those in the industry, the writing is on the wall: a lethal cocktail of plummeting incomes, increased competition, and rising operational costs is threatening the very viability of agricultural businesses across the country.
Liz Webster's farm in Wiltshire has felt the impact acutely. The 647-hectare operation has seen prices for its beef cattle drop by around £400 per animal, a reduction largely attributed to cheaper imports from Australia, facilitated by new trade deals forged since Brexit. While supermarket beef prices remain stable, farmers like Ms Webster are bearing the brunt of this price compression.
The sector is facing multiple challenges. Since Brexit, British farming has undergone significant shifts: the UK's withdrawal from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – a subsidy system in place since the mid-1970s; fundamental changes to trade policy allowing a surge of imports produced to different standards than UK equivalents; and the introduction of trade friction with the EU, historically the largest market for UK food exports. Studies indicate a nearly 50% fall in the quantity of farmed exports to the EU, alongside a 35% decrease in value, with a third fewer varieties of exports.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) highlights specific export declines: poultry by 38%, beef by 24%, lamb by 14%, and dairy by 16%. Consumers have also been affected, with a 2023 study suggesting Brexit has added £7 billion to food prices. Global issues such as the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, energy price shocks stemming from international conflicts, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events are further exacerbating the challenges facing farmers.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, acknowledges the difficulty in isolating the precise impact of Brexit but reiterates the industry's prior warnings that the full effects would be a gradual 'death by a thousand cuts' rather than immediate. These factors are compounded by issues such as difficulties in securing visas for seasonal workers and a significant increase in administrative paperwork, contradicting promises of reduced red tape post-Brexit.
The government insists that 65% of food consumed in the UK is still domestically grown and asserts they are actively working to support the sector. However, critics argue that Brexit has been detrimental to farming, with Labour's farming minister Stephen Morgan stating that 'bad trade deals' have led to a decline in incomes for farmers.