DAERA officials have estimated that 20% of product could not move off Northern Ireland farms for three months from April due to restrictions in processing.

“This is estimated to cost around £105m,” a briefing document for Stormont’s agriculture committee reads.

The document states that “the most impacted sectors” are expected to be dairy, poultry, pigs, beef, sheep, horticulture and eggs.

DAERA officials state that Stormont’s budget would not cover costs associated with disposal and compensation for lost product.

“In addition, if there are any general market disturbances, DAERA would be looking for both National and EU funding,” the document reads.

Last week, DAERA Minister Edwin Poots revealed that the NI agri food sector needs over £100m of emergency support due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“That is almost certainly too significant for the NI budget to deal with, therefore we are looking to the UK government and indeed Brussels at this point to see what can be delivered,” he said.

Agri food needs £100m crisis aid

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Processing restrictions could cost NI farmers £105m

DAERA officials have estimated that 20% of farm products could not move off Northern Ireland farms for three months due to processing restrictions.