Northern Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Edwin Poots has met with representatives from the agri-food industry to discuss major challenges facing the sector.
These include supply chain pressures and challenges caused by on-going rises in input costs and the cost of living crisis.
Minister Poots previously described the pressure on the Northern Ireland agri-food sector – including rising feed and fertiliser costs, labour supply problems, energy price hikes and supply chain disruption – as the “the perfect storm”.
In a series of visits, the minister met with representatives from Karro Foods in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone; Derry Bros. in Loughgall, Co. Armagh; Finlay Foods in Moira, Co. Armagh; and Grahams Bakery in Dromore, Co. Down.
The owners of these businesses highlighted the specific challenges they are facing to the minister.
Speaking in the course of these visits, Minister Poots said: “I am hugely concerned with rising food and energy prices, which are having a devastating impact on Northern Ireland households.
“Primary producers are facing unprecedented rises in input costs of energy, feed and fertiliser which simply cannot continue to be absorbed by farm businesses,” he added.
“Businesses in all sectors along the supply chain are facing challenges due to significant increases in energy prices and fuel costs and labour shortages in the agri-food and logistics sectors continue to pose challenges, especially in the pork sector.”
The minister argued that, across the UK as a whole, options were needed to help these sectors.
“We need…to be ready to act if the position does not improve in the coming months. I will continue to engage with my UK ministerial counterparts and have instructed officials to work together across devolved administrations to draw up contingency options for assistance for the beef, sheep and pig sectors, with latter the most immediate priority,” he said.
