The presidential team at the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) firmly believes that a new Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) can be delivered for Northern Ireland during 2026.
And. according to UFU deputy president, John McLenaghan, it will not be a case of simply coming up with a re-worded version of the proposals that were published at the beginning of May 2025.
He insists that a new NAP can allow for agriculture in Northern Ireland to produce more food in an increasingly sustainable way.
McLenaghan made the comments at a press conference held to mark the beginning of the union’s 2026 presidential road shows.
“The original NAP proposals contained 40 proposals. Prior to this, previous reviews of NAP would have addressed no more than 10 issues of concern,” McLenaghan said.
“Given the significant scope of the proposals published last May, there was an obvious responsibility on the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to discuss these matters with all relevant stakeholder groups before putting the matter out to public consultation.
“This didn’t happen, so we are where we are today.”
While recognising the need to get a new NAP deal over the line in an expedient manner, McLenaghan made it clear that the negotiations currently underway must not be rushed.
“The current format of having a stakeholder group with an independent chair is working well,” he said.
“But there is one fundamental end point to this: the UFU will not sign off on a new NAP deal until such times as arrangements are agreed that meet the requirements of farmers in Northern Ireland into the future.”
NAP, planning and ammonia emissions
Significantly, the UFU presidential team link the issues of NAP, planning and ammonia emissions as one block of issues that must be addressed in a combined manner.
This is because all the UFU sees all three subject areas as inherently linked and, according to McLenaghan, there is a strategic order within which these matters can be resolved.
“The putting in place of realistic planning procedures is the obvious starting point,” he stressed.
“So, for example, it makes no sense at all that farmers cannot invest in new facilities that will act to reduce both ammonia emission levels and the carbon footprint of their businesses because of the current planning regulations.”
More generally, McLenaghan believes that society as a whole in Northern Ireland has moved in from a position that saw lots of finger pointing in the direction of agriculture when specific environmental issues rose in prominence.
“Lough Neagh is a case in point,” he said.
“We have moved to a position which saw farming conveniently blamed for the algal bloom issue to one of recognising that all stakeholder groups must join forces and come up with a plan that fully re-instates the Lough, no matter how long this takes.”
