Referendum scheduled for June 23
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Britain’s environment secretary Liz Truss insisted to farmers that they vote for Britain to stay part of the European Union when the vote is held on June 23.
According to The Guardian, while at the National Farmers’ Union annual conference, she classified leaving the EU as a “leap into the dark.”
As part of the EU, Britain can export agricultural products to 27 other countries without trade barriers and tariffs, and reach about 500 million people.
“We are able to export our high quality products freely, without the trade barriers we deal with elsewhere and with a say in the rules,” she said.
Farmers who attended the conference appeared to have mixed feelings about whether or not Britain should remain part of the EU.
Livestock farmer Tom White told The Guardian that he’s confident Britain will be leaving and he supports it. He said it will remove any inefficiencies.
Other farmers said they support Britain leaving because of there’s not enough support for farming.
There are also those that support Britain remaining part of the EU.
Simon Bainbridge, a sheep farmer who sells most of this product within the continent is one of them.
He told The Guardian that leaving a free market would be wrong, especially with the volatility in prices.
According to an Oct. 2015 article in The Guardian, leaving the EU could cost farmers between 35 and 50 percent of their gross income and only the most efficient 10 per cent would be able to operate successfully without subsidies.