Debate contribution: Family Farming: Sustainability
Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on .
- MLA
- Mr Andrew Muir
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 13 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Family Farming: Sustainability
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4488960
Read the official Assembly record
Text
At the beginning of this Question Time, I pay tribute to Jennifer Fulton following her sad passing on Sunday 5 May. Jennifer had a long and successful career, including as chief executive of Ulster Wildlife. She was an exceptional person and will be forever missed. My thoughts and prayers go to Norman, Sarah, Peter and James and her wider family, friends and colleagues. I think I speak for everyone in the House in saying that she leaves a powerful legacy. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by her sad passing. I thank Mr Beattie for his question. I recognise the challenges that the agricultural sector faces, particularly in dealing with volatility in prices, incomes and the present weather conditions. However, I do not agree with the premise of the report that the farming sector is on the verge of collapse. Whilst I accept that there are undoubtedly challenges — I am aware of them — I believe that the outlook for agriculture is positive and that young people and new entrants will continue to be attracted to it. The proposal for guaranteed farm-gate prices, put forward in the article referenced in the question, is not feasible and would not be contemplated for other sectors of a market economy. It would make our exports uncompetitive, which, for a sector dependent upon exports, would be disastrous. Furthermore, to prevent our domestic production being replaced by imports, economic controls on food imports from GB, the EU and the rest of the world would be required. That would be very controversial, if not without the remit of the Assembly. My Department provides extensive support to the farming sector. Direct income support payments to farmers are around £300 million per year. In addition, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) provides farmers with support through business development groups; training in family farming key skills; regular press articles and management notes; and a number of open events, including slurry management events in early February 2024. I was glad to attend one such event because it is good to hear the different views in relation to this. We must have a discussion as to how we can best support our farming community.
367 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.85).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.85 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.88 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.05 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.03 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.02 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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