Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) chair, Joe Stewart, has confirmed that the development of a new three-year strategy is a priority.
“The current plan takes us through to the end of March next year. So the next few months will see an intense series of discussions taking place with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that we have a new plan agreed within the required time frame,” he said,
“There must be a seamless transition between the out-working of the current strategic plan and the introduction of the new one.
“Moreover, LMC must ensure that the detail of the new strategy has the full support of all relevant stakeholder groups. The consultations held with these organisations over the coming months will be critical in determining the priorities identified for the new document.”
LMC strategic plan
According to Stewart, the strategic plan represents the bedrock upon which all the activities taken by LMC are formulated.
“In my opinion, the work of the LMC has never been more important.”
To assist in the delivery against the strategic plan, the LMC board plans to appoint a substantive chief executive officer (CEO) for the organisation.
“This process begins immediately,” Joe Stewart confirmed.
“I would like to pay tribute to the tremendous work put in by our previous CEO, Ian Stevenson, over so many years. He was ably assisted by a tremendous staff team. I have never come across a group of people who are so dedicated to the work that they do.
“LMC’s breadth of business activity is significant. Management of NIBL FQAS is one of our core programmes, providing the foundation for our marketing and communications activities.
“A case in point is the invaluable input that we have with schools, communicating the valuable role of beef and lamb in a balanced diet to so many young people, right across Northern Ireland,” he added.
Climate legislation
The LMC chair said he is also mindful of the fact that Northern Ireland’s climate legislation will be fully implemented over the coming years.
At a very basic level, this will include the setting of carbon targets for the farming and food sectors during the period leading up to 2050.
Hand-in-hand with this will be a resetting of the support measures available to local farmers in line with the new sustainability targets that have been laid down.
“Agriculture, as a whole, needs the data to confirm that it is meeting these objectives,” Stewart said.
“The role of LMC’s Beef and Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme in securing this information in the most effective way possible has been, quite rightly, identified.
“It was for this reason that LMC agreed to deliver a pilot scheme on behalf of the Carbon Steering Group to test the concept of this proposed data collection methodology.
“The industry must come up with a plan to assimilate the information required from individual farm businesses to confirm that reductions in carbon footprint are being achieved across all the sectors,” he added.
He explained that this work must include the establishment of an accurate baseline measure and be undertaken in ways that ensure its delivery in the most cost efficient manner.
