Post-Brexit sales of British farm products to EU drop 37%, farmers’ union says
Sales of British agricultural products to the European Union have fallen by almost 40 per cent since Britain left the EU, according to a leading farmers’ union.
Analysis of HMRC data carried out by the National Farmers Union (NFU) shows that sales of products from cheddar cheese to meat have fallen significantly since the UK left the EU in 2020.
The poultry sector suffered the biggest loss, with a decrease of 37.7 percent, followed by beef exports with a decrease of 23.6 percent, lamb meat with a decrease of 14 percent and dairy products with a decrease of 15.6 percent. Guard reported.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the decline could not be attributed solely to Brexit but it showed the challenges British farmers have faced over the last five years.
He added that even if trade barriers were removed, it would not immediately reverse the damage done by Brexit.
“Just reducing friction does not mean we will get the EU market back,” he said. “There is no empty space on the shelves with labels saying ‘I’m waiting for British products’.
“Rebuilding demand will take time, effort and real focus.”
His warning comes after reports that the EU and Britain expect to hold fortnightly talks on agriculture negotiations ahead of the next leaders’ summit.
A government review in December found the farming sector was “dazed and frightened” after facing serious challenges following Brexit and inheritance tax changes; these changes have since been dropped.
The farm profitability report, prepared by former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters, said uncertainty around the closing of applications for the sustainable farming subsidy scheme, the main agricultural payments post-Brexit, and proposed changes to inheritance tax had created “significant” ongoing concern, with some farmers questioning viability, let alone profitability.
Baroness Batters, a Wiltshire tenant farmer and the first female president of the NFU, said farming remains a vital part of the UK economy and food system but has faced significant instability over the last nine years, from global market shocks to Brexit, rising costs and extreme weather.
“Farmers are not asking for government handouts; they want nothing more than to run successful, profitable agricultural businesses, earning a fair return on the product they produce,” he said.
