Dr Keith Howe: Farming on Exmoor: Towards Brexit

Academics have a responsibility to communicate with the society we serve. This seminar will reprise a presentation made at the Exmoor Society’s Annual General Meeting in autumn 2016. The context was a session entitled ‘Cultivating Farming’, at which David Knight, Chairman of Exmoor Hill Farming Network, received the Society Founder’s Award for 2016 for his work on behalf of the Exmoor farming community. The presentation outlines some of the main physical and financial characteristics of Exmoor farming based on Farm Business Survey data for 2014/15, introduces an economist’s view of the consequences of policy intervention, outlines the policy options for agriculture after Brexit under consideration by the National Farmers’ Union, and concludes with ‘Points to Ponder’ to which David Knight and the audience were invited to respond. The exercise was a salutary reminder not only of the gulf in perceptions and understanding between policy experts and those whose interests they aim to serve, but also the importance of sharing information from both sides to mutual benefit.

Dr Keith Howe's profile