Reacting to the vote by the UK in favour of Brexit in the EU referendum, EU agricultural co-operative Copa & Cogeca have said it marks a sad day for EU and UK farmers.
Copa and Cogeca have said they will work to ensure the farming community does not pay the price due to the turbulent nature of international politics.
In an initial reaction, Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said: "The vote was very close showing a slight majority of 52% in favourand 48% against.
"Copa and Cogeca highly value the UK farming unions participation and their support in the EU agriculture policy work.
We are still analyzing the impact on agriculture of the vote, based on both EU institutions and UK government decisions.
"But a key point for us will be to avoid any further disruption to the European agriculture market, given the importance of the economic ties across the Channel and the current agricultural market crisis.
"It is crucial to maintain market stability. Over half of UK food and drink exports currently go to the EU and the UK market is also a big export market for food and drink exports from other Member States providing European consumers with a good, diverse choice of quality produce.
"We will work hard to ensure that the farming community in the EU or the UK are not the ones to pay the price for international politics and the impact on trade is minimised.
"The leave negotiations are expected to be concluded within two years as defined in the Lisbon Treaty," Pesonen said.
