Two large manufacturers have recently waded into the
Brexit debate. Airbus and BMW have Europe wide factories and
complex supply chains. Their concerns revolve around logistics
planning and how Brexit will impact their production and sales
costs. We have also seen from the recent CO2 production
interruptions how supply issues can quickly escalate.
Planning for Brexit
All businesses utilise inputs/energy, produce outputs and use
machinery/equipment (even if that equipment is just a laptop and a
printer). Farms are no different, so how can farms plan for the
Brexit transition?
Inputs / energy represent the biggest, recurrent annual cost to
most farm businesses (after land and finance). It will come as no
surprise that the UK is not self-sufficient in inputs. Inputs also
account for large indirect energy costs: fertiliser production is
very energy intensive and many crop protection products are also
produced from petroleum feed stocks. Therefore many inputs are
