With the public consultation on the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) closed to responses from Thursday 24 July, it is important to recognise the efforts put in by numerous people across our industry to robustly challenge many of the original proposals set out by DAERA.

That effort is summarised in a very detailed response submitted by the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) which runs to 70 pages.

There has also been some really vital work done by former scientist Dr Sinclair Mayne, as well as the team at AgriSearch.

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The next stage in the process will be for DAERA to work through around 3,400 responses and produce a summary of what was said.

That in itself looks to be a major job, given the numbers involved, but in one regard, it is a problem of DAERA’s own making.

The issue at hand relates to a failure (perceived or otherwise) of government departments to differentiate between a response from a large membership organisation such as the UFU and that from a single interest group with a car load of supporters.

When you read a summary of consultation responses, it often seems like all responses carry equal weighting.

It has led to a situation where the likes of the UFU is trying to get as many members as possible to formally engage, thereby preventing the Department from presenting analysis to suit whatever narrative they might want to portray.

New plan

In the meantime, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has confirmed a new group involving representatives from government, farming, food and the environment will be tasked with looking at the consultation responses and coming forward with a new plan.

That plan will have to meet legislative requirements, be based on evidence and be workable at farm level.

As highlighted within the UFU response, the first NAP consultation contained many flaws which need to be corrected going forward, as well as unrealistic proposals and timeframes.

But it would be naïve to think the underlying issues are going to change that dramatically – pressure will remain on farming to reduce its impact on the water environment. Ultimately compromise will have to be found.