UFU hits out at BBC over Farm Gate

Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president David Brown has said he is “gutted and angered” by reports the BBC is to axe Farm Gate from its regular slot on Radio Ulster, starting in the new year.

Brown maintained that confidence in the BBC among rural communities is at “an all-time low” and pointed out that the duration of farming news has been significantly reduced over the years, leaving it at less than five minutes across 24 hours of broadcasting.

“We urge the BBC to treat this matter of concern with urgency and to rethink their plans,” said Brown. He also wants farmers to make a complaint directly to the BBC.

New chair and board at LMC

After a period of four months when the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) had just one board member and no board chair, the NI Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has finally appointed new members to the board.

The new chair is Joseph Stewart, who has served on the LMC board since 2021. The five new board members are John Hood, Sean McKeever, David Torrens, Elaine Willis and David Mark. Each has been appointed for a three-year term.

Huey urges vigilance around avian flu

DAERA chief vet, Dr Robert Huey has reminded poultry keepers that avian flu remains a constant threat and we are now entering the high-risk period for the disease due to the winter wild bird migrating season.

“I encourage all keepers of poultry, including game birds and pet birds, whether you keep one bird or hundreds, to act now to carefully consider and improve biosecurity where possible, to reduce the risk of transmission of disease to your flocks,” he said.

Detailed information on how to improve biosecurity can be found on the Avian Influenza Hub section of the DAERA website.

UK minister rules out bird flu vaccine

Biosecurity measures on poultry units will remain the industry’s main defence against avian influenza this winter, a senior UK government minister has said.

“It is unviable to have a vaccine in place for this high-risk season. We haven’t had any outbreaks [of avian influenza] so far, but there has been one wild bird finding this week,” said UK environment secretary Thérèse Coffey.

Speaking in Westminster on Tuesday, Coffey pointed to an avian influenza vaccine which has recently been trialled in France.

“One of the impacts that happened in France when they were doing it on ducks was the USA immediately suspended all imports,” the Conservative Party MP said.

“We do have to think about how we can manage that and think about some of the trade exports that we do,” she added.