NI Farm Family Day

News Letter

UFU president David Brown addresses MLAs at Stormont during the launch of the new campaign.

Transcript

00:00 I suppose we look upon this as an opportunity to engage with the newly re-established Assembly.

00:06 I just want to highlight to you, these are available, these are I suppose a UFU manifesto

00:11 drawn up for all you good politicians in order to be able to know I suppose the priorities

00:16 that we as an agricultural industry have.

00:18 So I would encourage you to make sure you have one of these.

00:22 I want to just take a few minutes perhaps maybe to give us a little bit of a back right.

00:27 So UFU, a union for everyone, because fundamentally when we live and work in rural areas we do

00:33 not have any political persuasion and therefore we fundamentally want to represent all of

00:40 agriculture and we pride ourselves in working for all of agriculture.

00:45 I suppose at the end of the day recognising the nature of the farming businesses that

00:50 we represent.

00:52 I was across last week at the NFU conference and it's very evident why Manette Batter

00:56 stood down as a tenant farmer.

01:00 The two new incumbents, the new president and deputy president, one of them farming

01:04 2,400 acres and the other 3,000 acres, rather different from what we have here in Northern

01:11 Ireland in our family farm structure.

01:13 With 24,000 family farms here in Northern Ireland or thereabouts, and those generations,

01:20 family farms where people work together, husbands, wives, next generation, often three generations,

01:26 sons, daughters and beyond.

01:28 So that I suppose creates a unique bond, a unique commitment to the work that we do with

01:33 our crops and with our livestock.

01:36 We've over six billion in agri-food sales and I suppose the food and drink industry

01:41 that we represent employs well over 100,000 people.

01:45 So in terms of the economy of Northern Ireland it plays a significant part.

01:49 In the UK as a whole, the whole food and drink sector is worth over 128 billion and I suppose

01:57 to the economy with the UK only 60% self-sufficient in food, we recognise that the majority of

02:04 our produce here from Northern Ireland ends up feeding the nation.

02:08 I appreciate that's a phrase that perhaps the supermarkets would wish to coin for themselves

02:12 but fundamentally we as farmers are those who produce that food on our farms.

02:18 Almost half of what we produce in Northern Ireland, 47% lands in the GB marketplace,

02:23 around about 15% goes into ROI and 8% to the rest of the EU, so roughly 24% into effectively

02:32 the EU and the other 24% consumed here with a small 4-5% going to the rest of the world.

02:39 So in terms of what we produce and where it goes and in terms of who we feed, fundamentally

02:45 I suppose we recognise it's almost 50-25-25 in terms of that division.

02:51 But investing in our farm sector is essential for productivity, for job creation as I've

02:56 said much wider than just those who actually farm the land and for the economic delivery

03:01 that we as a country wish to see.

03:04 I suppose the budget for UK agriculture is under threat, that's something in our conversations

03:08 both with the Minister and indeed with others we're highlighting that we see political parties

03:14 and I saw them on the stage at the NFU conference last week trying to avoid making a commitment

03:19 as to what that budget might be, albeit I have to recognise that the Liberal Democrats

03:25 were for adding £1 billion to that UK budget in order that they would deliver on all of

03:31 the extra environmental measures that they believe are necessary going forward in the

03:35 next mandate.

03:36 I suppose importing more of our food, that's I suppose an inevitable and perhaps negative

03:43 impact that that might have on our carbon footprint and on the food we produce.

03:48 I suppose the real measure of environmental and sustainability is that the food that actually

03:53 ends up on our plates and in our cupboards and indeed on the shelves of our supermarkets

03:57 actually has been produced locally, has been produced to the high standards that are required

04:03 of our farmers and fundamentally we're not offshoring that global impact.

04:08 When we look at food transparency the emphasis is on public procurement I suppose is often

04:15 simply decided sadly on cost so that therefore those who make those decisions look at the

04:21 cost of the product and the decision is based purely on that metric alone.

04:26 We obviously in this industry want to emphasise and encourage the need to see that food produced

04:33 locally actually used in the public bodies and the public sectors that this I suppose

04:40 government represents.

04:41 I think back very recently to obviously during Covid times our consumers very quickly recognised

04:50 I suppose perhaps maybe for a short time but recognised that farmers were in fact you know

04:56 producing food locally and we were key workers at that time and you know the amazing loyalty

05:03 of our consumer was something that we very much appreciated but we recognise a cost of

05:08 living crisis and the pressure that that has done on consumers has perhaps maybe reversed

05:14 some of that with more of a focus to the forefront in terms of the actual cost of what's on the

05:20 shelf and what they're bringing home in their basket.

05:23 QFU is and will continue to support a proposal that has come forward from the rest of the

05:29 UK about identifying products where more than 50% of the ingredients are from outside the

05:36 UK in other words emphasising that level of local production and it is at the end of the

05:42 day critical that we revitalise the public support for local food production and in doing

05:48 so that we can be the best possibly for our environment alongside enabling and encouraging

05:54 support for local agriculture.

05:57 I suppose it's fair to say and I was over in Brussels just at the end of last week went

06:02 from the NFU conference across the Brussels as we do every couple of months and they were

06:07 boarding up effectively on Friday evening because of a demonstration that was about

06:13 to take place there and is taking place there today no doubt we see some of that on our

06:17 newsreels shortly but those I suppose tensions that have boiled over because of some of the

06:24 measures that have been proposed and I guess right now here in Northern Ireland we want

06:29 to work to safeguard to enhance our environment while continuing to produce the wholesome

06:36 and nutritious food that we do and we need to see fairness in the supply chain perhaps

06:41 not necessarily for this audience but fundamentally we recognise that at times we are price takers

06:47 there is a degree of dysfunctionality in terms of the food supply chain based on perhaps

06:52 at times some of the items being sold as lost leaders.

06:55 If Northern Ireland government and I'm coming to a conclusion you know wants to support

07:00 the cornerstone of our economy and genuinely cares about the fantastic environment that

07:05 we enjoy and we're better than to stand here in the sun shining on us on the balcony this

07:09 afternoon then I urge them to recognise family farms as the economic drivers and custodians

07:17 of the land that we farm.

07:18 So thank you for your time and I'll hand over to the Minister.

07:21 [APPLAUSE]

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