WHEAT farmers across the UK anticipate average losses of £10,000 a year if the European Commission goes ahead with its threatened removal of market authorisation for the herbicide glyphosate.

In a survey issued by the Crop Protection Association, a sample of 250 British farmers were asked the question: “What would be the expected annual financial impact on your farm if glyphosate were banned by the EU?"

More than half (54%) reported that they expected a glyphosate ban to cost them more than £10,000 a year, while a minority of 2% replied that a ban would cost them more than £40,000 annually.

The European Commission is expected to make a decision about the chemical's market authorisation within the next two weeks.

Stepping up its lobbying against a ban, the CPA warned that the loss of glyphosate would have impacts beyond the wheat sector, affecting agriculture more widely and even the British economy as a whole. According to new figures from economic research house Oxford Economics and agriculture specialists The Andersons Centre, potential consequences of a glyphosate ban include a reduction in farm output of £940 million; a reduction in tax revenues generated by agriculture and its supply chain by £193 million; and a fall in wheat production by 20%.