A senior UK government minister indicated that support will not be forthcoming to help manage rising farm input costs, the president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said.

Speaking at Westminster on Wednesday, UFU president William Irvine gave an insight into a meeting which took place with NI Secretary of State Hilary Benn last week.

“He listened but he played the poverty card [and said] that he has no money. Support now will alleviate future pain for consumers. He needs to have that long view,” Irvine said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The UFU president told MPs that the US-Iran war has led to an “immediate and externally driven cost shock” for local farmers, particularly with fertiliser and fuel costs.

“We are hearing reports of potato farmers selling their harvesting machinery to raise the capital to plant this year’s crop. That’s the pressure at farm level at the moment,” he said.

Declan Pang from the Road Haulage Association pointed out that most other countries in western Europe have already rolled out measures to help offset rising fuel costs.

Scheme

“The UK is now one of the few developed nations which has not introduced a scheme to support industries or support fuel costs across the board,” he told MPs.

In his remarks, David Blevings from the NI Oil Federation highlighted that almost 30 cent per litre has recently come off fuel taxes in the Republic of Ireland.

“You can now fill up a tanker in the Republic, bring it up north and sell it here, and make money. To me, it does not make sense,” he said.