February 2019 – Is Brexit really that important?

Bill and Ben are at their local.  “The boss is still talking about going to 300 milkers. An extra 50 cows won’t make much difference to the workload but what happens if there is no one to buy the milk?” They chat about Brexit and conclude they know far too little about WTO or international trade agreements to form a meaningful opinion.  “We were suspicious when the boss started converting those old calf buildings to offices but he was right. The income helps cushion the blow when the milk price drops!” They reassure each other that everything will be all right.

Politicians and journalists like to quote superlatives.  The worst recession ever, the biggest political upheaval since the war, unprecedented disruption; all have been heard in recent weeks. There will be winners and losers, opportunities and threats, survivors and failures. Some suggest the rural sector will suffer more than others, of course much of the produce is perishable and cross border hold ups could be catastrophic. At this point it would be easy to talk the industry into an early grave but, since the dawn of man, there has been a need for farmers to produce food to feed those that do other things. Is anyone suggesting this is going to change?

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