'TB inaction'
UFU president Victor Chestnutt said: “Feelings ran very high last night amongst our members as they got the opportunity to directly engage with DAERA’s chief vet Robert Huey."It’s always extremely difficult to listen to a farmer expressing their anguish about the level of distress the disease is causing them, affecting their mental health and creating financial implications that impact the entire family."To have our executive members on one meeting venting the same frustration caused by DAERA’s inaction of TB takes it to another level. "Yet it’s only a snippet of what farmers across NI are still experiencing years after we were told a TB strategy was almost ready. “The threat of removing a proportion of direct support for not TB testing is nothing short of a ‘choke chain’ around our members’ necks. During the earlier stages of the coronavirus pandemic, DAERA relaxed this warning and we demanded that going forward, this relaxation continues. DAERA have plenty of other tools in the box without threatening farmers' direct support which is vital to sustain their family farm businesses. “Mr. Huey confirmed that the threat of reducing Basic Payment Scheme entitlements will be reviewed and assurances were given to improve communication with farmers after our executive made it clear that DAERA’s poor communication was creating extra stress.”