A year on from the disastrous rollout of a public consultation on revisions to the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP), new proposals are close to being finalised and expected to be published in the coming weeks.

In an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal, new Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president, John McLenaghan confirmed that “hundreds of hours” has been put in by his organisation and others, to find a way forward.

That process has involved leaders from farming, food processing, feed mills and the environment working alongside government in a ‘Task and Finish Group’ announced by Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir last autumn.

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“Everyone has put a crazy amount of time in to solve this problem. Everybody knows the importance of what they are doing,” said McLenaghan.

The aim of the group is to agree proposals that are evidence based, workable at farm level and which ultimately, improve water quality in NI.

Compromises have had to be reached and some of the proposals will still be challenging, especially for intensive farms.

“There will be criticism directed at us – that is entirely possible,” he accepted. However, he said it is important to remember the context of what was proposed in May 2025, against what is coming forward now.

“If this organisation had not stood up a year ago and initiated legal proceedings, we would have the NAP proposals now being implemented and they would have been devastating. Sometimes I would like to take people into meetings and let them hear the discussions and realise how much we achieve,” said McLenaghan.