The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has called on local farmers and growers to take part in an online survey to identify investment needs for farms.
The ‘Attitude to Investment’ survey will help gauge the readiness of primary producers with an agricultural or horticultural business in Northern Ireland to invest in new capital equipment and infrastructure in the short- to medium-term.
It will also seek information on challenges and barriers across different sectors and sizes of farms.
Alison Chambers, DAERA’s director of sustainable agri-food development said: “There are a number of challenges facing the industry, both in terms of farm productivity and environmental performance.
“It is essential that we have sound information to develop the shape of new support measures to help address these issues.
“The new Capital Investment Measures will help farm businesses to improve business efficiency and environmental performance,” he added.
DAERA has said that in particular, support will be focused on helping the industry to meet net zero targets to incentivise investment in carbon reduction technology and to invest in equipment to support low-carbon farming.
Chambers added: “Therefore I would encourage all agricultural and horticultural producers in Northern Ireland to complete this survey.”
The survey is anonymous, and information gathered will only be used to inform the development of Capital Investment Measures under the new Farm Support and Development programme, according to DAERA.
Farmers and growers are encouraged to complete the survey which is available from Friday, October 27 on the DAERA website.
The closing date for survey responses is Friday, November 17, 2023.
Investment support
The Capital Investment Measure is one of the measures in the new Farm Support and Development programme.
It aims to reduce the environmental impact of primary production sectors, through adoption of precision technology and equipment to reduce ammonia emissions, carbon emissions, and nutrient loss.
In addition, it will seek to increase the resilience of farm businesses through increased efficiency, to help deal with the volatility of input costs and labour availability, according to DAERA.
