Farmers Must Keep Eu 'Bonus' ; the Voice of the Westcountry

Summary

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THE poor pound-to-euro rate hurts weekenders planning a quick trip across the Channel to stock up on booze for Christmas and makes many people think twice about taking that romantic getaway on the Eurostar to Paris. But British farmers who have their single farm payments calculated in euros can look forward to an extra Pounds 320 million this year, thanks to the fact the exchange rate for farm subsidies was set last week, when one pound and one euro were close to parity.

Hold on before cracking the champagne down on the farm, however. Because as St Ives Lib-Dem MP Andrew George correctly warns, the supermarkets will be doing their best to siphon-off what they can of this little windfall that ought to be bolstering farm profits. "All too often the benefit of such subsidies are siphoned straight out of the farming industry," he said. "Their weak bargaining position means supermarkets can ratchet down farm gate prices but invariably fail to pass the price cut on to the consumer."

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Farmers Must Keep Eu 'Bonus' ; the Voice of the Westcountry

The pressure the big supermarkets put on smaller producers is nothing new. They will say they do it to...

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