Farmers would welcome free trade — provided it is fair trade

YOUR columnist Steven King (April 30) appears to dismiss the agricultural sector of the economy as a has-been industry being fast-tracked to inevitable decline by the WTO negotiations.

Mr King’s statement that those interested in saving the agricultural industry have focused on turning EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson into an “Irish hate figure” suggests the industry is averse to forensic economic examination in making a case for its survival, preferring to stick to emotive issues in a bid for support.

While there certainly are values at stake in terms of the future of the countryside, the family farm structure and a way of life, the industry is more than able to stand up to economic scrutiny.