CAFRE outline plan for new farmer groups

Local farmers will be invited to take part in new CAFRE-led Sustainable Development Groups to replace the Business Development Group (BDG) format which finished at the end of March 2024.

The new approach will take the existing BDG model and “lean much more heavily” towards environmental sustainability, CAFRE Director Martin McKendry told members of the Stormont Agriculture committee on Tuesday.

The proposed structure would see farmers signing up to groups for a 5 to 6 year period. The groups would be split by sector and also by region, although unlike the BDG format, there is the potential that farmers with similar production systems (such as high output dairy) might be brought together, said McKendry.

Originally launched in 2016, approximately 160 BDGs involving around 3,000 farmers operated across NI, with the aim to improve technical efficiency and profitability by sharing knowledge on farm. Funding of £600 was available for farmers to host meetings.

While there will still be a focus in the new groups on farm productivity and maximising gross margins, CAFRE will be “enhancing that with performance indicators linked to environmental policy and environmental strategies,” said McKendry.

“The agenda we have over the next 10 years and the policy and strategic direction is almost not optional,” he added.

Themed groups

However, the CAFRE Director acknowledged that not all farmers will want to sign up to a 6-year sustainability group, so a new concept is being introduced of “themed groups”. These groups will bring together farmers to consider specific topics such as livestock genetics or calving at two years, with 2 to 6 events on farm over a 12 to 18 month period, suggested McKendry. “Hopefully it gets us to targeting those who have been more difficult to reach,” he said.

Also new is a proposed professional development programme for people in industry working closely with farmers, such as feed advisers, vets and representatives from banks. According to McKendry, previous research by AFBI has suggested these are people farmers trust in their decision making.

Those who enrol would receive training aimed at bringing them “up-to-speed” with new ideas, initiatives and measures within the DAERA farm support programme.

“Probably the most important bit is that those engaging with farmers are consistent in their messaging,” said McKendry.

Online hub

There are also some other initiatives planned as part of CAFRE knowledge transfer. These include an online hub of technical information, as well as online and face-to-face training courses to build on the previous Farm Family Key Skills programme.

It had been expected that the various groups and new knowledge transfer activities would launch later this year, although no firm commitment was made at the meeting on Tuesday.

Little progress on Just Transition Fund

There has been minimal work done within DAERA on a new Just Transition Fund for agriculture, despite it being included as a key requirement within the Climate Change Act passed by MLAs at Stormont in 2022.

“Work is really only commencing around what that Just Transition Fund for agriculture might be,” Dr Rosemary Agnew told the Stormont Agriculture committee on Tuesday.

The Climate Change Act places a requirement on DAERA to establish the fund to provide financial assistance to farmers to help them deliver future greenhouse gas reduction targets.

New growth scheme for NI horticulture

A 4-year pilot programme which aims to help encourage significant growth in the NI horticulture sector, has been included as part of DAERA plans for future farm support in NI.

Speaking at the Stormont Agriculture committee on Tuesday, CAFRE Director Martin McKendry said the pilot programme was in the final stages of development and will be targeted at top fruit, cut flowers, nursery stock and vegetable growers.

A key part of the programme is to bring growers together into ‘sustainable sector growth groups’, where “we get volumes and a skill-set that can meet market demand,” said McKendry. Initial indications are that there will be 6 groups, with 5 to 10 growers in each.

There will also be a growers academy established by CAFRE which will aim to help bring new growers into horticulture and also an innovation support scheme providing capital support for new crops and new technologies.

McKendry believes there is significant potential for farmers to add horticulture to their enterprise mix, given it is not “land hungry” - similar to how mushrooms, and especially poultry, has helped to create sustainable farm businesses in NI.

“There are real opportunities in this one,” he said.