Motion or amendment: Promoting On Farm Investment

Motion or amendment by Mr Tom Buchanan on 14 May 2024.

MLA: Mr Tom Buchanan
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 14 May 2024
Type: Motion or amendment
Business: Motion · Private Members' Motion
Heading: Promoting On Farm Investment
Assembly identifier: Document 401427

Read the official Assembly record Open Data source

Text

Promoting On Farm Investment
That this Assembly believes investment in new and replacement farm buildings is essential to improving agriculture’s environmental footprint in Northern Ireland; criticises the decision to drop the published Ammonia Standing Advice used by the NIEA to assess the air quality impacts associated with many planning applications; recalls that this decision was made without Ministerial approval or prior consultation; notes with concern recent research conducted by KPMG on behalf of the Northern Ireland agri-food industry, which found that more stringent ammonia regulation could lead to fewer successful planning applications, a 20 to 25 per cent decline in on farm investment and reduce family farm incomes by up to 38 per cent in some sectors; calls on the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to acknowledge that the investment in, and modernisation of, farm facilities will promote animal welfare and reduce future emissions; further calls on the Minister to reject policies which constrain plans to invest in and modernise farm facilities; and calls on the Minister to place the needs of primary producers and consultation with the agri-food industry at the forefront of any new ammonia strategy.

190 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.