Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president, William Irvine, believes the war in Ukraine is an immense food security threat for many countries across Europe.
“This is a wake-up call for governments to make the issue of their own national security an absolute priority,” Irvine said.
The Co. Armagh man was the guest speaker at the launch of Newry Show 2024.
He specifically highlighted the opportunities that exist to increase the levels of food security generated within the UK and the role that agriculture here in Northern Ireland can play in this context.
Irvine also views the upcoming general election in the UK as a potential game changer for agriculture in Northern Ireland.
“The post-Brexit support arrangements that were made available to agriculture in NI end now – it’s time to look to the future.”
Priority number one in this regard for the UFU leader will be the securing of higher levels of farm support.
Irvine said: “The current budget is slightly in excess of £300 million. In order to reflect the current needs of the farming sectors, this annual figure must rise to around £400 million.
“It must be increased on an annual basis, thereafter, in order to keep pace with inflation.”
Courtesy of his presentation, William Irvine highlighted the other UFU policy priority areas.
These are: the necessity to push forward with a realistic bovine tuberculosis (bTB) eradication policy and the requirement for the Environment Agency, in tandem with the Office of Environmental Protection, to review the regulations relating to ammonia emissions from livestock farms.
On the issue of bTB, Irvine is deeply concerned that policy decisions on this matter have been transferred to the office of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, possibly, Westminster.
“This state-of-affairs has only come to light over recent days.
“The UFU wants to see control of bTB remain within the remit of Andrew Muir. This is the only sensible way forward,” the president added.
UFU
Regarding the outcome of the recent public consultation on bTB compensation values and a formal proposal from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to cut funding budgets by 25%, the UFU representative made it clear that farmers will not countenance such a change.
This perspective is echoed by all of Northern Ireland’s farm lobby groups.
Where ammonia emission levels within agriculture are concerned, the UFU president is asking for common sense to be brought to bear on the matter.
“New technologies will be developed to tackle this issue. But, they are prohibitively expensive to procure in the first place and then to operate thereafter.
“It’s imperative that the capital grant schemes made available to farmers take full account of this reality.
“Investment projects on many farms have now ground to a halt. This is a direct result of the severe interpretation of the ammonia-related criteria being applied by planning officials.
“One obvious way forward is to allow farmers push ahead with the repair or the replacement of buildings.
“Many of these structures have been in place for 50 years and more. Replacing them with new facilities that are inherently more ammonia efficient makes sense from all perspectives.”