Further coverage from Wednesday evening's debate will feature in this week's edition of the Irish Farmers Journal and at www.farmersjournal.ie

10.37pm

Plenty of Eurosceptism in the Eikon tonight and in NI farming in general – chairman Richard Wright ends proceedings with a vote with the majority in attendance raising their hands in favour of the ‘leave’ campaign.

10.33pm

Kendall says that it took seven years to get a trade deal with Canada and it does not include dairy products. “The US still does not import any of our beef and they are meant to be one of our mates. Our experience from the national government is that they do not support single farm payments, and they will not be with trade either,” he adds.

10.29pm

Patterson says that he always maintained that prices for farm produce should be dictated by markets and that farm payments should subsidise environmental measures. He argues that a post Brexit farm policy would incentivise uptake of technology and make farming more competitive.

Kendall replies: “I am arguing that we unravel farm payments across Europe. You are saying that we use it for shortfalls in government spending for things like broadband, flood defences and supporting village shops.”

10.22pm

A question from the floor highlights that CAP payments which equate to 87% of farm incomes in NI. “It would be ludicrous to stop payments if neighbouring competitors continue to pay subsidies,” Patterson replies.

He acknowledges that he is not the government but says that farm policy post Brexit would target farm payments through sitting down with local farming unions and elected politicians. “You would have a thriving farming industry and a sustainable environment,” he says.

10.16pm

Kendall questions why Patterson is saying that the government will pay more subsidies and get rid of cross compliance post Brexit. “Your colleagues go out and say something completely different.”

He argues that by remaining in the EU we can work with countries that prioritise rural issues more than the urban majority in the UK. “We will have a more gradual convergence to global markets inside the EU. We would have a more radical adjust outside it,” he adds.

10.08pm

A question from the floor asks: “How would you persuade an undecided voter with one single argument?”

Patterson: “Give local people elected by you the power to decide how tax payers’ money is spent.”

Kendall: “There is nothing concrete on offer. No one can tell me what ‘leave’ will look like.”

10.02pm

CAP should not be a social policy but should drive growth in the agricultural industry, Kendall says. He adds that environmental policy should be at a national and local basis.

Patterson says that agriculture is a devolved issue so elected MLAs will decide how farm policy is made in NI. He questions why the speaker from the floor “wants unelected officials from other countries to decide agricultural policy?”

9.57pm

Patterson says that EU standards are becoming out of date as trade increasingly depends on world standards for trade on a global scale. He again argues that EU rules come from unelected officials in the Commission and the UK is continually outvoted in the Council.

A speaker from the floor argues that in the event of Brexit it will be the same situation. “Our 18 MPs will be out voted in the UK government by 500 or 600 MPs elected from mainly urban areas when trying to protect NI farmers.”

9.49pm

Kendall says that ‘leave’ campaigner and Tory MP Michael Gove said in an interview that he wants to deliver cheap food and free trade deals which will harm producers in the UK.

A question from the floor queries wither EU countries will want UK agricultural products post Brexit due to already over supplied markets and low prices. Kendall says: “We cannot come back from this if we leave. There will not be another vote in five years if this does not work.”

Patterson talks about the EU budget in his response to Kendall: “9.8bn is the net deficit that we pay in the budget. This means that for every pound we put in we get 50p back on terms that are dictated by unelected officials. If they do not like how we deliver their policy, they take more back.”

9.39pm

“The real growth in the world is beyond these shores. We should wish our neighbours in Europe well and exit the EU,” Patterson says.

Kendall argues that agricultural products will not be included in trade deals post Brexit due to a lack of interest from the urban majority in the UK. Patterson quickly responds: “If we remain, we all know the EU is lousy at making trade deals.”

9.34pm

Kendall says that small changes to currency due to Brexit polls show how sensitive the economy can be to uncertainty. He argues that the UK needs to work with like-minded member states that agree that aspects of the EU have gone too far.

9.30pm

Patterson says that he does not trust economic forecasts. He argues that economists did not forecast the recession and ongoing problems with the euro.

“The right products sell at the right price. I do not see because we want to withdraw from the political arrangement that they will not want to trade with us,” he says.

9.27pm

First question is about law making and trade. “The urban majority in London and other cities do not think farming, they think free trade deals for pharmaceuticals and manufactured products,” Kendall says.

9.22pm

Kendall says that countries with growing populations will give the UK opportunities post Brexit, however he adds: “What we cannot have is a half-baked New Zealand style experiment in the UK.”

He argues that there are many trading blocs around the world trying to trade deals and that the UK has to work with the EU to get better markets. “We are better in this common market rather than jumping ship and saying ‘we do not like this,’” Kendall finishes.

Skype worked a treat. Questions from the floor now.

9.17pm

He says that every forecast states that the economy will take a hit post Brexit. He argues that money saved from the EU budget that the ‘leave’ campaign promise for agriculture will not reach farmers due to other priorities such as the NHS and education.

9.14pm

“44% of what the UK exports goes to the EU whereas what they export to us is under 8%. Overall 73% of our agricultural exports go to that affluent trade block that is the EU.” Kendall adds that the British government has historically tried to remove the single farm payment and still has the same policy at present.

9.11pm

Peter Kendall is live on Skype to the Eikon centre now. “Owen, £642m is the price we paid for an arrogant government that tried to drive through CAP reform and got it wrong on every single count” he says.

9.04pm

“We will prosper, our environment will prosper and Northern Ireland will prosper,” Patterson finishes on.

9.03pm

“We will come to a trade deal. Why on earth, in an election year when 1.5m Germans depend on jobs through trade with us, would Angela Merkel have a row with us,” he says.

8.57pm

Patterson goes onto to argue that the EU does not embrace technology in food production compared to other regions in the world. “Everyone worries about trade and these ludicrous scare stories. There are 5m Europeans whose jobs depend on sales to the UK,” Patterson says.

8.53pm

By leaving the EU, Patterson says: “We could tailor a rural policy to your own industry and your own landscape. You would not have to accept these insanely complex rules where they try to make a policy fit 28 member states.”

8.50pm

In his first day as Defra secretary, Patterson says that he realised that the UK was being fined £642m by the EU Commission in disallowance for not implementing CAP correctly. He asked those in attendance does anyone agree with the three-crop rule.

8.47pm

“There is no stability in voting to remain – they will create this new country and have serious budget problems. They [the EU Commission] can promise you nothing past 2021,” he says.

8.44pm

“Very simply this was always a political project,” Patterson opens with. “Mrs Thatcher through gritted teeth did sign away a lot of vetoes through the single market,” he says.

8.39pm

Agricultural commentator Richard Wright is chairing proceedings tonight from an independent position. A coin toss will decide who speaks first - however Owen Patterson will go first to allow Peter Kendall time to get his webcam set up from his home.

8.36pm

The UFU agreed to facilitate debates but would not be involved in interviews etc. The executive council agreed that due to the lack of evidence, the UK would be better to remain in the EU but it would not be telling its members how to vote.

8.33pm

Proceedinsg are underway now. UFU president Barclay Bell says that the EU referendum was always going to be a contentious issue so the executive council agreed not to get involved in the debate.

8.04pm

Crowds are beginning to arrive at the Eikon Exhibition Centre. A later start than the scheduled 8pm looks likely. Owen Patterson is in attendance but the talking point already is that Peter Kendall is absent in person having missed his flight. He is set to join us through webcam however.

7.50pm

Kendall is an arable farmer from Eyeworth, East Bedfordshire and served four terms as NFU president from 2006. He is part of the Farmers For In group, which is part of the official Britain Stronger In Europe campaign for the UK to remain an EU member in the upcoming referendum on 23 June.

Speaking on behalf of the official Vote Leave campaign is Conservative MP for North Shropshire Owen Patterson. Patterson was Defra Secretary from September 2012 to July 2014, having held the positon of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland before this from May 2010.

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