The state of farming
An audible shudder rippled across the countryside when the Government trumpeted a free-trade deal with Australia recently. Diehard Remainers tweeted, “I told you so,” and anxious discussions have since been taking place around many farmhouse kitchen tables. The reality of Brexit – if not yet any adverse impact on prices – is starting to hit home. The history of British agriculture has been punctuated by events, such as the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, that have sent farming businesses in a markedly upwards or downwards direction. Exit from the suffocating, yet ultimately protectionist embrace of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is in that league. British farming has generally flourished under protectionism and declined when there has been free-trade – hence the longer faces than usual at the mart.
Beyond the political cycle there have been more powerful forces at work, driven by science, technology and, in recent years, a changing philosophy about our relationship with the natural world and anxiety about climate change and biodiversity loss. What is interesting this time
