Farmers Frustrated Over Brexit Policy Uncertainty

Currently the UK agricultural industry is lagging behind other nations like Australia and the US when it comes to the level of productivity. However, this could be mitigated with the use of precision devices like farm management software, electronic ID tags, and monitoring collars.

Ministers have committed to acting now to prevent any further decline in productivity and bringing the UK back to where it once was. But following Brexit’s change in financing sources, many businesses are delaying spending on updating their farming processes.

The SMF calls on the government to shift subsidies in the direction of precision technology as the Secretary of State coined Defra “an economic growth department.” Currently, just 9% of the funds are set aside for this.

Agriculturalists highlighted to the Social Market Foundation (SMF) that it is difficult to comprehend the latest policy developments, therefore it is difficult to organise future actions and invest in updates.

Farmers feel stuck between a rock and a hard place as they “want more technology and want to change”, but feel “stuck in a limbo.”

The SMF suggests increasing the availability of crucial information maintained by retailers and slaughterhouses and following other nations’ lead via the use of electronic IDs for cattle.

Aveek Bhattacharya, Chief Economist at SMF, explained that “Brexit offers the opportunity to fundamentally change the subsidy system and address British farming’s longstanding productivity challenges.”

“When it comes to adoption of new, cutting-edge technologies, farmers are more than willing, but the Government needs to meet them halfway.

“Better use of technology in farming could help” increase “economic growth, but only if farm subsidies are well-targeted and offer strong incentives to invest in tools that improve farm efficiency.”

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