News round-up from Northern Ireland

Quotes from local fuel suppliers for red diesel have fallen by up to 6p/litre over the past seven days.

A price survey conducted by the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday saw quotes for 2,000 litres of red diesel range from 75.5p/litre to 77p/litre plus VAT.

It compares to a much wider price range of 76p/litre to 83p/litre which was seen in last week’s red diesel survey.

The falling trend aligns with international oil markets which have continued to edge downwards following the peace deal in the US-Iran war.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was trading at under $74/barrel on Wednesday, which is its lowest level since late February 2026.

Farmer-funded research body AgriSearch has opened a recruitment campaign for two new senior leadership roles within the organisation.

The first position is for a senior scientific lead to review independent evidence and help shape future research priorities.

The other role is for a communications lead to strengthen farmer and stakeholder engagement, and translate research to farm level outcomes.

There has been a restructure of existing staff within AgriSearch too, with operations manager Sean Kane appointed to the new role of chief executive officer.

Jason Rankin, who was previously strategy manager at AgriSearch, is now a senior industry adviser.

A long-term fund for peatland restoration is needed in NI, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said.

It comes after a new UFU survey found that “lack of funding” and “lack of government incentives” were the two main barriers stopping farmers from carry out peatland restoration.

The survey of 60 farmers found that a quarter of respondents would want assurances that farm productivity would not be negatively impacted before restoring peatland.

“The message that came through clearly is that farmers recognise the importance of healthy peatlands, but that we need to create the conditions that allow them to engage with confidence,” said UFU deputy president Clement Lynch.

Regulations have been approved by MLAs at Stormont which will apply an inflationary increase of 2.7% to higher education student fees at CAFRE for the new academic year from 2026-2027.