Red diesel has risen by close to 10p/l from the start of the year on the back of escalating crude oil prices which reached a seven-year high on Monday.
Price quotes for 1,000 litres of red diesel this week were generally between £790 and £800, including VAT or just over 75p/l excluding VAT.
Back in early January, prices for the same quantity of diesel were typically around 66p to 67p/l, excluding VAT.
Red diesel is running 22p to 23p/l higher compared to February last year, a 30% increase.
While oil prices did ease mid-week, this is unlikely to be reflected in lower fuel costs in the short term as markets remain tentative over developments between Russia and Ukraine.
Officials from the NI Environment Agency (NIEA) are to be invited to come to the Stormont Agriculture committee to account for why they are so slow at responding to planning applications.
In an update sent to the committee, NIEA said there is currently a backlog of 213 applications, but it has now redeployed staff and contracted agency workers to help deal with the issue. It is also “actively engaging” in the recruitment of new permanent staff.
NIEA is part of DAERA, and provides advice to the planning service. A notice on the DAERA website points out that NIEA is “currently experiencing a very heavy workload resulting in delays to planning consultation responses.”
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has had four consecutive years of growth in membership, finishing 2021 with a total of just over 11,500. Overall retention rate of existing members was 95%, and during the period the UFU added 620 new members. Co Tyrone saw the biggest increase during 2021, with membership up 2.3%.
The deadline for applying to farm under a nitrate derogation for the 2022 calendar year is midnight on 1 March 2022.
The derogation deadline is a month earlier than it was during the last three years. Back then, applications had to be submitted to DAERA by 31 March.
A derogation allows a grassland farm’s nitrogen loading limit from grazing livestock to increase from the standard 170kgN/ha/year to 250kgN/ha/year.
For farmers that operated under a derogation last year, the deadline for submitting fertilisation accounts for 2021 is also midnight on 1 March 2022.
The UK government has been criticised for several comments that ministers have made about the ongoing labour shortages in the pork processing sector.
In its weekly update to members, the British Meat Processors’ Association (BMPA) said Environment Secretary George Eustice made an “unhelpful suggestion” to MPs earlier this month.
Eustice said pork processors should have “dropped the price of pigs” to clear the processing backlog, and “put pigs on the market in the European Union” as less butchery work is required.
In response, the BMPA said a further price drop would “instantly decimate UK pig farmers” and it is “completely unrealistic” to dump unbutchered carcases onto the EU market as it is “already awash with an over-supply of pork”.
UK government ministers have also recently played down labour shortages in pig factories by pointing out that there was a limited uptake of a temporary visa scheme for 800 butchers.
“The problem was that the government appointed agencies didn’t have the contacts or experience to find and vet candidates. They only managed to find a couple of hundred before the window for applications shut,” the BMPA said.
The MartEye agri ‘Auction of Hope’ returns on Friday 8 April 2022, taking place in partnership between Air Ambulance NI agri-business group and Richard Beattie of Beattie’s Livestock Sales.
The event will take place at Glenpark Estate, Omagh. Alternatively you can watch the auction online on the MartEye platform. Anyone wishing to donate a lot this year should contact Libby Clarke on 07775584884 or email lib788@gmail.com.
Money raised will be split between Air Ambulance and the Cancer Fund for Children.
