The chief executive of Dale Farm, Nick Whelan has called on various government departments to work with the agri-food industry to help solve environmental pressures on farmers.

Taking part in an Ulster Bank event at Balmoral Show, the Dale Farm chief cited the example of slurry solids being taken to anaerobic digestion, with the resultant digestate then dried down into a biofertiliser.

“We have been talking for three years about biofertiliser, but we are still talking about it.

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“There is a commercial outlet for it in England, but we are stuck in the quagmire of planning,” he said.

Given we are a small country, he said it should be “easy to make things happen here”, adding that NI has plenty of natural resources, good people in government, globally competitive processors and world class farmers.

“We have all the pieces that can make us the best. We can win here in a big way and can help transform NI,” he said.