Suckler farmers in NI are unfairly disadvantaged due to the absence of targeted support payments for the sector, maintained Conall Donnelly from the NI Meat Exporters Association (NIMEA), speaking at a breakfast event organised by Dunbia at Balmoral Show.

“In every country in the EU where there is a sizeable suckler herd, there is a meaningful coupled support payment or scheme requirement for minimum stocking rates. Our farmers are uniquely exposed to this uneven playing field and it needs addressed,” Donnelly said.

He pointed to Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, where additional payments are available to farmers for keeping suckler cows, but suggested there was an opportunity to address the issue through domestic agricultural policy in NI after Brexit.

Although not commenting directly on coupled support payments for sucklers, Ulster Farmers’ Union president Ivor Ferguson said that future support payments in NI need to be targeted at active farmers. “We certainly don’t want the support going to the landlords, which was one of the problems with the Basic Payment Scheme,” he said.

Markets

At the Dunbia event, the UK government was criticised by several speakers for not doing enough to open export markets for the local agri food sector.

Conall Donnelly pointed out that the Republic of Ireland has been much more successful than the UK in recent years at getting access to new markets, such as Japan, China and the USA.

“We have not got the support from Defra. It is ironic, considering that there is a push for a ‘global Britain’ after we leave the EU, that we had a huge opportunity to trade with the rest of the world without Brexit,” he said.

In his concluding remarks at the event, Jim Dobson from Dunbia suggested that The Department of International Trade needs to “significantly up their game” to get access to new markets.

Read more

Chinese to fast-track inspection of Irish beef and sheep plants – Creed

Chinese factory inspection fast-track welcomed