North Sheep 2017 – 'We must wait and see what the future holds'

SHEEP farmers have no option but to wait and see what the future holds.
That was the sobering message to thousands of farmers and those associated with the industry who attended North Sheep, at West Shields Farm, Tow Law, last week.
Organised by the northern region of the National Sheep Association (NSA), North Sheep featured more than 35 breed associations, 200 trade stands, a programme of seminars and workshops and a host of other activities during the day-long event.
NSA president James Graham, the Duke of Montrose, opened the event, which was held the day before the general election.
“Sheep farmers have to contend with many variable factors,” he said.
“The most unquantifiable come in three categories – the weather, the markets and politicians.
“So far this year, the weather has been kind to most of us. The market has been kind to us largely because of the effect of the devalued pound which has helped our exports and proved a disincentive to imports.
“This then leaves politicians, who are bent on having a rather more revisionary role than usual.”
The duke added: “The industry’s great hope is that they will favour a less sternly regimented approach to agriculture and rural affairs.
“No-one is giving us much of a picture on what they see on the subject. We will just have to wait and see.”
The duke, whose estate is near Ben Lomond, in Scotland, was part of a House of Lords group that spent six months looking into the possible effects of Brexit on agriculture.
He said: “There are three main aspects that mainly concern farming – trade, support and access to labour.
“For the sheep industry, the most critical component is how we can avoid disruption to our export markets.
“The worry is we are told that in the event that no special deal can be done with the EU, we will have to fall back on World Trade Organisation rules.
“We are all expecting that some sort of deal will be available from Europe, but the tough job will be to argue that we should have tariff-free access to Europe and not too high a tariff to the other high value markets around the world.”
On support, the duke said that while the Tories were offering to maintain the level of agricultural subsidy until 2022, farmers needed to know whether this would be in the same format they are used to or something different.
“In the meantime, it is only left for sheep farmers to choose their breed, make maximum use of technology and efficiency and keep emphasising the contribution that sheep farming makes to the ecology and economy of the countryside.”
The duke’s words were echoed by NSA chief executive Phil Stocker, who envisaged “turbulent times ahead”.
He said: “There is the election, Brexit and huge global changes going on.
But he added: “The industry has been through tough times before and it will go through this turbulence because people want to do what they want to do – farm sheep.”