Whatever happens it will be a relatively short stint for the new Stormont Executive, with another Assembly election due by May 2022.

However, there are many important decisions to be made in the next few months that will shape policy for years to come.

For the new DAERA minister Edwin Poots, he comes to the job with plenty of experience having previously served as minister in three different government departments.

He also has a farming background, and as a former Greenmount student, won’t require a crash course in the basics of farming.

During that time on the committee, the new minister also outlined his views on direct payments

It should mean that he has the confidence to move relatively quickly on crucial issues, such as dealing with TB in both cattle and wildlife.

In 2015, while a member of the Stormont Agriculture committee, he made clear to DAERA officials that it was important that research into TB led to practical actions, not just more research.

During that time on the committee, the new minister also outlined his views on direct payments, and in particular, questioned whether area-based payments were the best way to support incomes.

Preference

His preference was for at least some of the money to be linked to production by way of coupled payments on the likes of sucklers and sheep.

Of real concern is the direction that the UK government is taking the industry in England

It is probably not a view of the future that is widely held within DAERA, but at the same time, the sentiment that support should go to productive, active farmers is correct.

However, of real concern is the direction that the UK government is taking the industry in England, with the plan to start gradually redirecting payments from 2021 towards paying farmers for “public goods”.

Bureaucracy

Some examples include restoring peatlands, planting hedgerows and sowing pollinator margins.

How this is managed and implemented in future years could become a bureaucratic nightmare, and from the outside it looks like a recipe to cut support going directly to farmers.

At present, farmers in NI get an average of around £100/acre in payments. Gradually diverting this money to something else requires very careful consideration.

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