Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
UK farmers and Brexit - statistics & facts
Brexit, the formal withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, occurred in January of 2020. This withdrawal marked the end of a 47 yearlong agreement with the EU. Until the end of that year, access to the European market remained largely unaffected. As of January 2021, however, several political and economic consequences had arisen. Contrary to historic growth, the total income in the UK from farming decreased in 2015-2016, when Brexit was first announced, and again in 2020, when Brexit occurred.
As of 2022, the total income generated from farming in the UK amounted to just under eight billion British pounds. This shows a strong recovery in farming income after a five percent drop in 2020. With the withdrawal from the EU, farmers currently receive no payments under the EU’s common agricultural policy. In addition to the cuts in subsidies for farmers, poor weather conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflationary pressures resulted in challenges for farmers since Brexit.
As of 2022, the total income generated from farming in the UK amounted to just under eight billion British pounds. This shows a strong recovery in farming income after a five percent drop in 2020. With the withdrawal from the EU, farmers currently receive no payments under the EU’s common agricultural policy. In addition to the cuts in subsidies for farmers, poor weather conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflationary pressures resulted in challenges for farmers since Brexit.
Crop farmers hit hardest
While livestock output was unaffected in 2020 and even improved in the following years, with an income valued at over 11.8 billion British pounds in 2022, the same cannot be said for cropping directly after Brexit. Income from cropping in the UK was marked by economic difficulty in 2020, dropping by about one billion British pounds compared to the previous year. However, output for crops rose in 2022 and amounted to about 13.3 billion British pounds with an average income of 67,000 British pounds for each cropping farm in 2021. In early 2020, the UK experienced several extreme weather events, giving rise to a late planting season and a dry spring. Furthermore, cropping relies on seasonal workers, the availability of which was directly impacted by both Brexit and the pandemic. This resulted in a 26 percent decrease in the total cereal production of wheat, barley, oats, and minor cereals (rye, triticale, and mixed grain) in the UK. Production in 2021 has started to recover to pre-Brexit numbers.Diversifying as a response to income loss
To combat challenges, some farmers in the UK have begun diversifying their farming practices. In October 2022, almost 50 percent of surveyed farmers who stated that they will need to make changes to their businesses in the coming years plan to diversify into non-farming areas. Just under one third of farmers planned to continue farming but increase productivity. The reasons why farmers are having to make changes to their operations ranged from price changes to weather and climate change. Input price change was by far the leading reasons stated by farmers in October 2022, with 90 percent of respondents stated this as a cause. Some 24 percent named trade agreements as an issue.
