AS the referendum on EU membership fast approaches, Fermanagh farmers have been debating the merits and dangers of a Brexit — and things are far from black and white. 

Last week the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) defended its stance not to directs its members how to vote on June 23, stating it was “a contentious issue.”

“While saying that, we have not seen a compelling argument that farming would fare better outside the EU,” added Barclay Bell, UFU president. 

Local farmer and Fermanagh chairman of the Northern Ireland Agriculture Producers’ Association (NIAPA), Eugene McGrade, also stressed the ‘leave’ campaign had “failed to clearly demonstrate how a Brexit will benefit our agricultural community.”

“There’s not enough evidence to support a Brexit,” he said, speaking personally. “It’s not black and white, though. In general, more farmers are for staying in but there are still a lot in favour of a Brexit.”

Mr McGrade cited the threat to the EU’s Single Farm Payment (SFP) as the greatest danger of a Brexit, stating under-pressure farmers, whose profits had been dropping continually in recent years, relied heavily on the subsidy. 

“If anything were to happen the SFP, small farmers would be wiped out. Farmers rely on the SFP to survive. A recent survey showed the gross profit for farming in Northern Ireland last year was in the region of £180 million, while the income from the SFP was £240, or thereabouts.”

Statistics from DARD back up this claim, showing  87 per-cent of total farming incomes in the North in 2015 came from the SFP.

Stating farmers would still have to deal with EU trade restrictions, without the UK having a say on such restrictions, Mr McGrade added: “People who are pro-Brexit say if the UK was no longer a member of the EU the money would be there to replace the SFP, but there has been no commitment to that from anyone. That would be my principal concern.”

Another local farmer, Andrew Wilson from Brookeborough, explained why he was in favour of a Brexit: “It’s quite clear EU bureaucracy has crippled the industry in recent years with a tightening of the CAP system and stricter red tape regulations. If we leave the EU then the UK will save billions of Pounds every year that can be realigned into areas such as health and farming.”

Mr Wilson added the expansion of the EU could also harm farmers, with money being directed to countries with lesser developed agricultural economies in the east. 

“If this goes ahead then the farmers in the west will feel the full force of this change,” he said. “It is anticipated millions more farmers will enter Europe in the coming years, this will of course thin out our subsidies even further.”

Fermanagh MP Tom Elliott said while he had no clear position on the referendum, stating there were valid arguments on both sides, he believed a Brexit, in the short-term at least, could be catastrophic for farmers. 

Pointing to what New Zealand did 20 years ago, he said: “They stopped all direct subsidies and all their small farmers were effectively put out of business. 

“In the short-term, it’s certainly better for farmers to remain. In the medium to long-term, I couldn’t say.”