FARMERS have reacted angrily to the announcement this week that a Australia-UK free trade deal has been agreed in principle.

The Government has insisted that British farmers will be ‘protected’ by a cap on tariff-free imports for 15 years, but it is not yet known how much Australian produce will be allowed to enter the UK under quota during this time.

Alistair Mackintosh, Cumbrian farmer and livestock chairman of Red Tractor Assurance, said: “If this deal is rushed through without the appropriate safeguards being employed, the entire British farming industry is at risk of being betrayed by the very institution designed to protect it.”

Great Britain and Australia are vastly different in their approach to farming, operating from opposite ends of the size and scale index.

Penrith and The Border MP Neil Hudson said he broadly welcomed the possibility of a mutually beneficial trade deal between the two nations.

“But it has to be the right one that recognises that whilst we have so much in common with our friends in Australia, our economies are different and any trade deal should reflect that,” he warned.

He added: “For example, when it comes to livestock farms, the costs of production are much lower in Australia and they have very different animal husbandry methods to us; I say this as someone who has worked as a vet on farms both in the UK and Australia. It is vital that we have a thriving UK food production industry that is not undercut by imports. I share concerns of farmers in Cumbria and the UK about the deal and we need to evaluate it fully when it is published. I am pleased the Government has listened to my call for tariff rate quotas to be used as a safeguard for the UK agricultural sector.”

National Beef Association CEO, Neil Shand said: “The trade deal is happening. Rather than expend our energy fighting the inevitable, we should ensure that safeguards are in place to maintain standards in production. We must be realistic and accept that we need to import beef – and, of course, we do also export a reasonable quantity too. It is vital that all imports – from Australia or elsewhere - are produced to a minimum of UK welfare and production standards, and that lower quality imports are not used to push our home-grown prices backwards. We currently have the support of the Great British public, and keeping this backing is of major importance.”

NFU chief livestock adviser John Royle said on Twitter that it was “not good news for UK beef and lamb producers”. In 10 years’ time, Australia would have access to 90 percent of the UK’s lamb import requirements, while 35,000t of beef in year one was equivalent to 10 percent of UK imports.

Mr Mackintosh added 35,000t of beef in year one would equate to 10,000 cattle being displaced in the UK.