The European Commission has formally approved the £623m NI Rural Development Programme (RDP) for 2014 to 2020, allowing DARD to move towards getting some of the measures within the programme open later this year.

From a farming perspective, one of the first initiatives will be the establishment of business development groups for farmers. The aim is to establish 160 groups across all sectors, each involving 15 to 20 farmers, with the groups led by a CAFRE adviser. There will be eight meetings of the group per year, with each meeting lasting around three hours. Farmer participants will receive an annual grant of £630 to cover time away from the farm and travel expenses. Participants will also be expected to host at least one farm visit and will receive £600 to cover costs.

The model is based on the discussion group format in the Republic of Ireland, where research has shown that farmers taking part in groups and learning from each other make more money.