Farmers for Action (FFA) has said that it wants to have an active role in a new Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) stakeholder forum that will be established in Northern Ireland.
The new body will be set up by Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, over the coming weeks.
The forum’s role will be to develop a NAP strategy that comprehensively reflects the needs of the Northern Ireland’s farming sector.
It will be given a two-month period to finalise its deliberations.
FFA had withdrawn from the previous discussions’ process, hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), in the run-up to the initial NAP public consultation.
NAP stakeholder forum
The farm lobby group is also confirming that it compiled a comprehensive policy statement on NAP, which was submitted to DAERA courtesy of the aforementioned consultation process.
FFA’s William Taylor told Agriland: “We recognise how important it is to get the NAP issue resolved in ways that meet the needs of all the farming sectors in full.”
FFA’s NAP policy centres on the introduction of its proposed Farm Welfare Bill at Stormont. This would see all farmers in Northern Ireland receiving guaranteed and sustainable returns for their produce on a long term basis.
Taylor said: “The new NAP model must ensure that Northern Ireland uses all the nutrients produced on local farms first and foremost.
“Surpluses must be returned to the grain and oil seed supplying countries, such as Brazil, in the transport ships that bring in the three million plus tonnes of imported grain and oilseeds to Northern Ireland annually.
“The logistics are possible: they are not being implemented at the present time.”
According to the FFA representative, this calculation alone puts Northern Ireland’s surplus nutrients back into balance.
“At this point DAERA must accept the fact that only one third of Northern Ireland’s farms have a connection to Lough Neagh,” Taylor said.
“Recent years have seen these producers dramatically reducing the level of nutrient leakage from their farms.
“This leaves Northern Ireland Water and the Department for Infrastructure and other industries responsible for the remaining surplus nutrients.”
FFA is also calling for all farmers to be adequately funded and supported when it comes to implementing the new nutrient management procedure agreed within the new NAP measures.
Taylor added: “The demand for food is obviously key within all of this.
“However, the supply system from Northern Ireland farms needs to change to deliver for the new NAP and, ultimately, the European Water Framework Directive. ”
