Farmers are cashing in on rising euro

The past week has seen European finance ministers monitoring wavering member state economies but the money markets have provided opportunities for UK farmers to maximise their support income.

And many of them must have done so, with the Clydesdale Bank's agribusiness division recording its busiest currency exchange trade of 2010-011 during the final days of June and beginning of July.

This coincided with the euro hitting a 52-week high of 90.83p, a level which many commentators had previously identified as a possible trigger for farmers seeking to maximise the value of euro-based single farm payments.

"With the euro's lowest 52-week value being 81.42p, the gap between the currency's highest and lowest exchange rates, against sterling, highlights the amount of single farm payment value which can be added or lost by businesses each year," said James O'Mahony, head of agribusiness at Clydesdale Bank yesterday.