Climate change, TB, energy prices and production costs are the major issues facing agriculture in Northern Ireland, the president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has warned.
David Brown also told the audience at the UFU’s annual dinner in Co. Tyrone that “the need for locally produced, high-quality food is more vital now than ever”.
Delivering on improved levels of food security and defining what is actually meant by farm sustainability in 2023 were two of the key themes highlighted by Browne at the annual event.
Brown said:
“Agriculture in Northern Ireland is currently feeding the equivalent of 10 million people throughout the UK and beyond.
“Meanwhile the population of the world continues to grow. The figure is projected to reach 10 billion people by 2050.
“And it is the international farming sectors that will be expected to step up and produce all the additional food required in these circumstances.”
According to Brown, farmers in Northern Ireland currently produce 2.5 billion litres of milk and 150,000t of beef annually. In addition to this there is the output from one million breeding ewes.
The UFU president added:
“Northern Ireland currently accounts for 15% of the UK’s organic egg output,” Brown further explained.
“During the Covid 19 lockdown, consumers started to get a sense of just how important the farming industry on their doorstep actually is.
“What they don’t want to see are empty shelves when they visit the supermarket.”
The UFU president also believes that the farming industry must be much more proactive when it comes to its participation in the ‘great food’ debate.
He wants the current UK government to make “food self sufficiency” a key policy issue and outlined that this means building on the levels of food produced in the UK at the present time.
Brown said the issue of agricultural sustainability revolved around three key issues; protecting the environment, meeting the food and drink needs of society and delivering realistic income levels for farm businesses.
“Farmers know that they must do all that they can to improve water quality and the levels of biodiversity that are found within our rural areas.
“Consumers get the messaging around food security. But none of this happens unless farmers are allowed to secure sustainable levels of income on a continuing basis. This is a message that the public and large and the government must buy into.
“The bottom line here is the delivery of realistic returns for farmers. Selling food in retail outlets at prices that are below the cost of production should not be allowed”.
A total of 240 people including National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters and the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, Tim Cullinan attended the UFU annual dinner in Cookstown.
Batters also addressed the dinner and told the audience that concurred Brown’s warning that food security must be made a policy priority by the Westminster government.
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