The NFU has nailed its colours to the mast by confirming farmers’ interests are best served by the UK remaining in the EU.
Nevertheless, the union has said it would not be actively campaigning in the EU referendum, and would not tell its 55,000 members how to vote.
But a resolution passed by the NFU council said: “On the balance of existing evidence available to us at present, the interests of farmers are best served by our continuing membership of the European Union.”
The decision comes after the NFU commissioned a report on the impacts of Brexit on farming.
The report by Wageningen University in the Netherlands found that in two of three scenarios, farm-gate prices could increase, bolstering farming incomes but reducing consumption of products as they become more expensive.
In the third, a more liberalised trade approach would see farm-gate prices fall, benefiting consumers through lower prices but hitting farmers’ incomes in many sectors.
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