The Party’s Westminster agriculture, environment and rural affairs spokesperson Carla Lockhart MP met DAERA officials this week and made it very clear that the DUP will not be supporting the draconian NAP proposals which are currently out for consultation.
She said, “The Minister’s latest plans, which include strict phosphorus limits and top-heavy enforcement rules, have stirred up a hornet’s nest and there is escalating anger and anguish among livestock farmers, especially those operating large farm holdings within the dairying, pig and poultry sector.
I used Monday’s meeting as an opportunity to send a strong message to the Stormont agriculture Minister, that he needs to do the right thing and change direction, otherwise he is going to destruct the viability of well over 3,500 farm businesses in Northern Ireland.
Calculations show that farmers will potentially need more than twice their current acreage to comply with slurry spreading rules. This is unrealistic and will inevitably force farms to reduce livestock numbers. Beef and sheep farms will be driven out of business as the compulsory use of low emission slurry spreading equipment (LESSE) by 2030 is beyond financial viability.
“DAERA’s plans are unacceptable and unjustifiable. This is not the way to deliver a sustainable future for Northern Ireland agriculture.”
Michelle McIlveen, the DUP’s Agriculture spokesperson at Stormont added, “The Minister has said he wants to work with farmers yet his approach in this area tells a very different story. There was no attempt to have meaningful engagement with primary producers to seek any balanced or workable solutions, instead appearing to pin the blame on farmers for problems in Lough Neagh which have many contributing factors.
The Minister must commit to publishing a full economic impact assessment of the NAP on farms and there should be a comparison of the modelling figures used against real-world data. If he is confident in the accuracy of the data behind these proposals and on their impact, then he should have no problem in committing to this. There has been no consideration given to the combined impact of this policy, unrealistic climate change targets already in place and the new farm payment scheme will have on an industry which is already under extreme pressure. This triple whammy will be hugely damaging.
Many people will be watching to see what level of engagement the Minister chooses to have across the 4 days of Balmoral Show when there will be ample opportunity for him to hear from farmers.”
Carla Lockhart concluded by confirming one positive take-away message from the meeting, was a promise from DAERA officials to meet with local farmers to scrutinise their actual figures, against those generated by computer modelled calculations. “This is a small, but important step, and I’ll be following the progress with interest to ensure its meaningful and transparent.”
The Upper Bann MP is also encouraging farmers to complete DAERA’s online NAP consultation document. A series of NAP themed meetings and webinars are due to take place in the coming weeks. Farmers are urged to attend evening meetings at Loughry College in Cookstown on Tuesday, 20th May; and Greenmount College in Antrim on Wednesday, 28th May.