"WITHOUT glyphosate in their armoury, a lot of arable farmers will find it difficult to farm" – that was the stark warning from UK supply trade chief, David Caffall, to officials still pondering a ban on this important weed killer.

Mr Caffall, chief executive of the trade group AIC, said the science had overwhelmingly proven that glyphosate was safe in the face of green lobbying which had seemingly 'decided' it had carcinogenic properties.

"It's a science versus politics argument and we have to be worried that in the run up to a German general election, that politics is carrying a heavier weight in the argument. That is not right," he said.

The EU first proposed an outright ban on the weedkiller, which has since been rescinded to qualified use. But, the stark reality is that farmers, arable users in particular, are looking down the barrel of a gun on out-of-control weeds.

"The EU ordered a research body in Germany to quantify the risks involved with glyphosate. They have concluded their work and found nothing at all to be worried about," said Mr Caffall.

"There are now no grounds to base any case against glyphosate. But the sad fact is, some UK councils, including those in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, have already banned the use of glyphosate and that's hardly a right and proper message to give to the public."

He said that crucial voting to decide any future restrictions on the herbicide's use lay with Germany, which was problematic given that this is an election year there: "The voting pattern shows that France, Germany and Italy are key players in this and they all abstained in the last voting process. I think the French are so far down the road of wanting to ban it, that they won't change their mind no matter the science.

"That leaves Germany as the one that needs to come off the fence and back its own research which proved that there need be no worries over glyphosate."

Meanwhile, the Scottish seed sector's representative on the AIC council, Lorne Watson, warned of a further threat from legislators on important seed treatments.Worries were growing, he said, that the useful neonicotinoid treatment, Deter, could be caught up in gold-plating the neonic ban already in place for sprays mainly used in oilseed rape.

"Deter is used primarily to control aphids and their spread of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), but it also protects against wireworm and slug boring," he told The SF.

With BYDV a major threat in Scotland to crop yields, this would necessitate at least one extra foliar spray to crops which would be both costly and arguably less 'green'.

"Not a lot of people realise that Deter is in the firing line and the whole Scottish farming industry should be fighting this," said Mr Watson.

[blob] AIC has formed an alliance with 'like-minded' bodies in the UK for a unified lobbying strategy on Brexit.

Coalition members are: the Agricultural Engineers Association; the British Society of Plant Breeders; the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers; the Crop Protection Association; the Grain and Feed Trade Association; the National Association of Agricultural Contractors and and the National Office of Animals Health. AIC's David Caffall said each organisation did not carry enough weight to effectively lobby government on Brexit, but collectively had a strong voice.