The president of the National Farmers’ Union, Meurig Raymond, said that while they understood the UK government was working through a difficult period, they were disappointed with the failure of the budget to deliver real support for farmers.

“We are disappointed to see no meaningful measures to help prepare farming businesses for life outside the EU in today’s budget statement,” Meurig said.

“With most of the emphasis on urban growth, there is little in the way of measures to benefit rural communities.”

The UK Conservative party is currently in a coalition government with the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Arlene Foster.

Measures to help agricultural investment to take on that challenge must be introduced

The potential impact of Brexit is already being felt by UK farmers as they deal with currency fluctuation, and it had been hoped that the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, would introduce measures to help mitigate the impact of Brexit on the farming community in this week’s budget.

The UK government has until March 2019 to form a trade deal with EU member states for goods and services before leaving the EU.

However, it has yet to make it through the first round of negotiations and there is concern among some members of the UK farming community that there will be a detrimental impact on farming and international trade if a deal is not reached.

Ulster Farmers’ Union

UFU president Barclay Bell also expressed his disappointment in the budget: “The farming industry across the UK needs to see a real focus on making Brexit a success.

“This is about helping the industry make the necessary changes to remain central to the UK economy. The need for that to happen is widely recognised, but the budget failed to deliver any evidence that this has, so far, been taken on board as a priority within government.

“Measures to help agricultural investment to take on that challenge must be introduced. The budget failed to deliver any such incentives,” he said.

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