Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir, referenced the issue of allowing farmers to invest in replacement farm buildings, during a presentation to the 2025 Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA) annual conference.
Muir highlighted the priority for production agriculture to deal with ammonia emissions and on the back of this challenge, how current planning regulations have brought the development of new capital development projects on farms across Northern Ireland almost to a halt.
Recent months have seen the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) campaigning vigorously to allow farmers to replace existing farm sheds with new structures that are more environmentally and animal welfare friendly.
Muir’s comments at the NIFDA conference indicate that he is giving this matter fresh consideration. Significantly, Muir’s portfolio covers both production agriculture and planning.
He also used his presentation to highlight the need for total transparency within the farming and food chain.
Muir called on the UK’s food regulators to ensure that farmers always receive fair prices for their produce.
Sustainable Agriculture Programme
Muir also highlighted the role of Northern Ireland’s fast-changing farm support systems in delivering higher levels of sustainability across the agricultural sector.
The Sustainable Agricultural Programme (SAP) is the over-arching measure within which the new farm support measures have been developed.
A number of specific schemes have already been developed under the aegis of SAP, however, it will be further developed during the period ahead.
Under the auspices of SAP, sustainability is a principle that relates to all the activities undertaken and goals achieved by a farming business; financial, environmental, conservation-focused, and community–related.
The programme also recognises the holistic nature of agriculture in Northern Ireland.
SAP will be characterised by four key drivers – the availability of a farm sustainability or resilience payment from 2026 onwards; the recognition of individual farms’ production capacity; enhancing environmental sustainability within agriculture; and the establishment of effective and functional supply chains within Northern Ireland’s farming and food industry.
This work is already in train.
The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) is breaking new ground in determining the soil characteristics of every field in Northern Ireland, while the Beef Carbon Reduction Scheme has been specifically designed to drive efficiency within the beef-rearing and finishing sectors.
The coming months will see further momentum secured, where the evolution of SAP is concerned.
