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During an oral evidence session at last weeks’ Stormont Agriculture committee, representatives from the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) spent much of their time defending the work done by beef and sheep farmers across NI.
Answering a series of questions from Green Party MLA Clare Bailey, LMC chairman Gerard McGivern and CEO Ian Stevenson accepted that more can always be done to improve animal health and welfare on farms and tackle environmental issues. However, using the example of the farm quality assurance scheme (FQAS), they argued that the vast majority of farmers comply with rules and regulations.
“People have a perception of farming based on practices that don’t happen here,” pointed out McGivern.
“Listening to the media, you would think farmers are destroying the environment – nothing could be further from the truth. Our environment wouldn’t be what it is without our farmers,” added Stevenson.
The LMC representatives argued that if restrictions are imposed on the industry in an attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions, it means that in effect, we will be exporting our environmental responsibilities elsewhere. Meanwhile, there is a real risk that land in NI gets abandoned, which benefits neither local communities nor the environment.
On ammonia, Stevenson explained that the reason agriculture accounts for such a high proportion of NI emissions (around 94%) is because we have a climate and land type suited to ruminant livestock production. “Farmers are up for the challenge of reducing ammonia, provided they get the right level of support and technical support to do the things they need to do (such as low-emission slurry spreading equipment),” said Stevenson.
Concerns
Looking ahead, the LMC representatives said that the credibility of the sector – and the ability to market and sell its product – depends on the maintenance of standards, so any suggestion that Brexit will mean a lowering of standards in Britain is of concern.
In NI, the high incidence of TB is also an issue, and it could impact on our ability to trade in external markets in the future. “In a lot of international markets that we supply into, TB is not something to shout about – we want to see TB eradicated,” said Stevenson.
Monopoly
It was also put to the LMC chief executive that there is a monopoly among beef processors, which has created a large discrepancy between what a farmer gets for cattle and what processors then receive. “Someone is taking a huge cut somewhere,” alleged Lagan Valley MLA Pat Catney.
But that was rejected by Stevenson, who claimed that a lot of processors run their individual sites as stand-alone businesses.
“When it comes to business and the competing nature of business, it is actually a fairly cut-throat market,” he responded.
However, he accepted that many beef producers are under real financial pressure at the moment.
He also told MLAs that the LMC is co-ordinating a piece of work looking at future models to support the beef and sheep sector and prevent any further decline in the numbers of suckler cows and breeding sheep.
“We certainly feel the sector can’t survive without support going forward. However, we don’t have all the answers at this stage as to what that support should look like,” he said.
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