The realities of post Brexit trade deals. Victim: British Sugar Industry.
- Thread starter Stuart J
- Start date
- Location
- Limousin
Well done farmer Clarke, exposing another government rotten deal for UK farmers.
You seem very bothered ,
maybe you and your mates are concerned about yourselves in reality .- Location
- Lincolnshire
Well dear oh dear. No other British industry has been spared the full heat of global competition so why are we expecting farming to get preferential treatment? I grow beet. But TBH, I won’t miss it if I don’t grow it. It’s become a royal PITA with wetter winters and loss of actives and the perpetually sh!t price. I’ll survive:
- Location
- Lincolnshire
If the man abroad thinks he can send sugar here and compete with us then let him do so unhindered and without artificial political barrier or hindrance. I never did and never will agree with discriminating against the efforts of the foreigner just because they are foreign. Let all compete fairly.
It’s not about discriminating against a foreigner just because they are foreign. It is about protecting UK agriculture. There was a time when the UK was the industrial powerhouse of the world. British steel,British shipbuilding,British car manufacture,British motorcycle manufacture etc.etc. They all turned a blind eye to foreign competition and they all suffered because of it. If UK agriculture turns a blind eye and does nothing to combat foreign imports then the time will come when the UK countryside becomes just a gigantic nature park for ramblers and 4x4 drivers to use for leisure purposes with a few working farm museums dotted about.
- Location
- Limousin
And you seriously think you can compete against lower standards, wages and land values, economies of scale, subsidies? A large proportion of UK farms only survive now because of subsidies, off farm incomes and diversification projects.
The problem is defining fairly, are the rest of the EU giving up subsidies?
- Location
- Limousin
No, but why should they?
Not sure how you compete fairly if the EU farmers carry on receiving subsidies but the UK government remove all of ours?
- Location
- Limousin
You can't unless the UK puts tariffs on imports, either in the form of money or other NTB's. Then the other country does the same on UK whisky, cheese etc.
It wouldn't surprise me if Bozza has a secret goal to allow much UK commercial agriculture to ultimately wither away, placing a far greater emphasis on importing food and food products. This would then put the UK in a far far stronger position regarding trade negotiations, whilst giving cheaper food to his new found followers in the UK rust belts.
UK balance of payments account will make interesting reading in a year or two but by then Boris will be long gone & some other poor sap will be landed with clearing up the mess.You can't unless the UK puts tariffs on imports, either in the form of money or other NTB's. Then the other country does the same on UK whisky, cheese etc.
It wouldn't surprise me if Bozza has a secret goal to allow much UK commercial agriculture to ultimately wither away, placing a far greater emphasis on importing food and food products. This would then put the UK in a far far stronger position regarding trade negotiations, whilst giving cheaper food to his new found followers in the UK rust belts.
yellow belly
Member
- Location
- south west lincolnshire
i suspect he will be in no10 for a few more years
2 election as london mayor in a labour city
british suger have worse agronomic problems pests and disease to start with
More worried by competition from India.....using our old tractors exported in 1985......no elf n safety costs.....and wages ???
ollie989898
Member
Why not? The industry has got this far?
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Yes I can compete if if want to compete. I either keep my costs low by using the same old kit we have used since 1970 that owes us nothing or we go “modern” and get a huge contractor in where one man can shift hundreds of tons a day quite efficiently. But for me loss of actives, such as neonics, virus yellows and cescospora, and wet winters is a bigger concern. We lose yet another seed dressing next year and this year we lost the herbicide desmedipham. For agronomic reasons it’s becoming debatable as to whether we can continue with beet here. Foreign competition is a side issue for me that we are already enduring anyway with the price hovering around £20 per ton for years now where once it was £35.
And as I buy my fert from Lithuania, my technology from China, my tractors from France and Italy I’m not going to start telling other people that they can’t buy cane from Oz. And why prohibit cheap imports from people in other parts of the world who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty? Protectionism of flabby western industries is just another form of colonialism designed to keep the natives we once presided over down where we think they belong. Give them a chance to trade freely and benefit from their own hard work. Who knows? With wet winters and changing climates we might be grateful for having diverse sources of supply of commodities.
But in the meantime I’ll be nurturing this years crop of beet, maybe even with more attention to detail knowing I’m competing equally with foreign producers. And when people in the pub goon about cosseted British farmers I can say no not me mate. We take on all comers fair and square. No special favours for us. I’m just waiting for the day it applies to accountancy and legal services when I can get somebody in Mumbai to do my books for £20.
