NI progressing US beef exports

A team of inspectors from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) could be invited to Northern Ireland in the second half of this year to inspect beef processors wanting to export various beef cuts to the US.

Speaking during a meeting of the Stormont agriculture committee this week, DARD deputy chief vet Perpetua McNamee said that the Department has been working on the basis that the industry here would like to export both prime cuts and also beef trim to the US. However, she said that there were barriers to the trade, particularly around the microbiological standards imposed by the USDA. Those standards tend to be more stringent for beef trim.

At present, the Republic of Ireland has approval to export prime cuts, but not trim. “We would like to go for both,” McNamee told MLAs.

DARD is waiting for advice from the Food Standards Agency on the microbiological tests required – that should be available by mid-March.

The Department has also been working on a detailed USDA questionnaire, which is nearing completion. Once everything is in place, and if the processing industry indicates that it still wants to proceed with exports, then DARD will invite the UDSA to come to NI. “Given a fair wind, that should be in the second half of 2016,” said McNamee.

She also revealed that, at present, 64 markets are open to NI suppliers, with 17 in use. “Third countries like to see markets used when they are open,” she said.

Compulsory BVD scheme begins in Northern Ireland

The compulsory phase of the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme began in NI on Tuesday (1 March).

Speaking at the opening of the scheme in Stormont, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill said she was aware that some farmers had concerns about the cost of tissue tags and also about removing PI (persistently infected) calves from their herds. However, she pointed out that studies have shown there is a significant cost to benefit ratio for farmers from eradicating the disease.

Diseases

Her line is that production diseases are the responsibility of the industry to resolve. “We, in Government, can provide encouragement and practical help and support when it makes economic sense to do so,” the minister said.

Ulster Bank reducing exposure

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Ulster Bank has been communicating with farmers and small business owners over the past two weeks across Ireland relating to outstanding loans that are “non-performing”.

While banks have sold distressed loan books to third parties in the past, there is concern over what Ulster Bank is labelling “non-performing” and at the speed at which this process is being handled with limited time given to allow farmers to restructure.

It is understood that Ulster Bank is presenting three options and that the borrower has only 30 days until the end of March to react to one of three options; repay the full amount within 30 days, refinance elsewhere, or the loan will be repackaged for sale to a third party by Ulster Bank.

One of the main concerns for individuals who contacted the Irish Farmers Journal is the criteria used to decide that a loan falls into the non-performing category. It appears that a farmer who may be interest only, missed repayments, or has not engaged, is considered ‘‘non performing’’.

Ulster Bank, which is owned by RBS, has sold distressed loans of much larger scale over the last year. It is understood that Ulster Bank has yet to find a buyer for this portion of the loan book.

NI dairy farmers kept expanding in 2015

Dairy cow numbers and milk output from NI farms was the highest on record last year, according to figures released by DARD based on the December 2015 agricultural survey.

Total milk output in 2015 increased by 2.7% from 2014 levels to 2.3bn litres. Dairy cow numbers increased by 2% year on year, with a total of 313,600 cows recorded on farms. Compare that with December 2013 when there were 281,827 cows.

Similar trends are seen across the UK with total cow numbers up 3%, and totalling 1.9m, the highest since 2007. Dairy farmers have responded to lower prices by producing more.

UFU welcomes new fertiliser report

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has welcomed a new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showing that farmers stand to gain if import duties on fertilisers and anti-dumping duties were removed.

“The report, commissioned by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), comes at a time when fertiliser prices remain high, despite plunging energy costs – and in the past, we were told oil and gas prices drove fertiliser prices. There are real concerns around the reasons behind the price farmers are paying for fertiliser,” said UFU deputy president Barclay Bell.

The UFU says it supports the IFA in its call for the European Commission to improve the competitive position of European agriculture by suspending and ultimately removing import tariffs on fertilisers.

It is estimated that this could be worth £800m to European farmers.