The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has responded very forcefully to a ‘Rising Costs Industry Taskforce’ update, published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
UFU president David Brown said: “In March 2022, the UFU called for government, and in particular DAERA, to put contingency plans in place and establish a Northern Ireland Agriculture Taskforce to address the impact that Russia’s invasion in Ukraine is having on global supplies.
“DAERA subsequently listened to the UFU and set up this taskforce with the UFU alongside other industry stakeholders, to provide information.
“The vital work of the taskforce has been limited because in the absence of an Executive [at Stormont], the DAERA minister does not have the authority to make an allocation of funds in relation to rolling out support for farming sectors,” he added.
“Our members have been very appreciative of receiving the Single Farm Payment earlier than usual this year, but it must be highlighted that with the increasing cost of energy and fertiliser, it is not enough to cover input expenses never mind maintain a home.”
Brown added that getting additional support, agreed upon by the Stormont Executive, is vitally important.
The UFU said that it is hoped that through the work of the taskforce, when the Executive gets up and running again, DAERA has the ‘industry intel’ as to how support should be rolled out.
“Hopefully, this will be sooner rather than later as some commodity prices have failed to keep up with unprecedented input prices,” Brown added.
Taskforce
DAERA has confirmed that the taskforce strives to ensure consistent advisory messaging across a wide range of agri-food stakeholders.
Since the group was established in April 2022, members have endeavoured to ensure that appropriate help and advice is made available to the Northern Ireland industry.
These activities have included a range of advisory articles issued to media, a dedicated website page hosted by CAFRE, an industry-wide, late spring survey and 16 on-farm events.
During the summer, taskforce members have been gathering information around silage quality, animal movements and the potential impact of various scenarios on farms this coming winter.
This work is continuing with the launch of an autumn survey to establish farmers’ plans and preparation for the winter period.
Results from the survey will define advisory messages and the support needed over the coming months.
