Debate contribution: On-farm Investment

Debate contribution by Mr Tom Buchanan on 17 June 2024.

MLA

Mr Tom Buchanan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

17 June 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

On-farm Investment

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4496352

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank all who participated in the important debate today, and I thank the Minister for being here to respond. Agriculture, as we all know, is the backbone of our rural communities and is vital for Northern Ireland's economy, the environment and its people. Northern Ireland's farm businesses are an essential part of our rural economy and our communities, providing jobs and driving growth in food production and diversified industries, such as renewable energy and tourism. However, to continue to compete in the marketplace, our farm businesses need to continually reinvest in their businesses to increase efficiencies, meet new standards and improve health and safety while improving the environment. The Department's stop-start approach to ammonia advice has been not only frustrating for our farmers but deeply disruptive to those with clear and legitimate aspirations to upgrade or invest in new, enhanced, modern buildings. All farms, regardless of size, that are associated with livestock or poultry are impacted by planning rules around ammonia. The policy has impacted on the redevelopment of many farm businesses throughout Northern Ireland that, had they been allowed to proceed, would have been of immense benefit to our environment through the reduction of ammonia levels. To give an example, I have a constituent who was looking for planning permission to replace a milking parlour because the old one that he was using was overdue for replacement and no longer fit for purpose. However, when he looked into getting planning approval, he found that there was no hope of it being granted because of the ammonia target that he had to meet. Had that farmer been granted planning approval and built his new milking parlour, he would have reduced his ammonia levels by at least 80% or 90%. Common sense would tell anyone that that is a way in which to help to reduce ammonia levels across Northern Ireland, but because of the stringent planning issues around ammonia, he is still operating under his old regime. If the Minister is serious about seeking to reduce ammonia levels to protect our environment, he needs to take such situations into account. Let us remember that the farming community is out to protect and enhance the environment, but it is being handcuffed and not allowed to proceed. It is rather absurd that farmers find themselves in the position in which they are expected to do more to protect the environment while working with a planning system that is entirely incapable of responding to their plans to deliver change. Striking a fair balance between improving farm productivity and environmental performance is, of course, important. We recognise, as does the Ulster Farmers' Union, that 96% of ammonia emissions come from agriculture. Equally, we have to ask how it advances Northern Ireland's GHG emission targets to have a planning policy that, more often than not, blocks the introduction of more efficient and low-carbon infrastructure on our farms. Newer buildings are far more environmentally efficient, requiring less energy. Significant investment across our farms has resulted in the adoption of new technology to reduce ammonia levels. Livestock diets have been adapted to lower crude protein, which results in lower ammonia emissions. Significant reductions have already been made in the pig sector, and specialist livestock house floors, housing systems, manure scraping systems, tree planting and other management practices have been adopted across Northern Ireland farms to help to reduce emissions, yet much of that work is unaccounted for in ammonia inventories. Nor, indeed, do planners accept it as mitigation measures, and that is a serious problem for farmers who have made the effort to invest in some issues in their business, yet the planning authority does not take that into account. Therefore, farmers are reluctant to make significant investments in ammonia mitigation measures until there is more clarity on what NIEA might accept. Perhaps we could get clarity from the Minister on what NIEA is really looking for with ammonia mitigation measures. I will deal with some of the issues that were raised in the debate. The proposer of the motion spoke about the importance of the farming industry to our economy, a planning system that is unfit for purpose, delay by over-stringent planning policy and how it costs a farmer between £10,000 and £30,000 to bring a planning application. We need to see evidence of sustained efforts to reduce the applications backlog, and the Minister should bring forward evidence that planning applications are being dealt with in a timely and efficient manner. There was concern that if policy is restrictive, it will reduce the number of livestock on farms and productivity in Northern Ireland. There was a call for the Minister to provide clarity and certainty for farmers, and that is what we need. We need to see the Minister come forward, and we thank for Minister for being here today, with clarity for our farming community. Tom Elliott spoke of the need for improvement in air quality and the environment — of course, that is what farming businesses are all about — and a proactive agriculture policy to provide for Northern Ireland and further afield. He spoke about the difficulties. A matter that, I am sure, every Member has faced when dealing with agriculture issues is the difficulty between NIEA and SES with planning applications and the confusion that there seems to be between those two bodies. That really needs to be dealt with. He spoke about the problems with replacement buildings and planning applications being no longer allowed under permitted development rights if they fall within a distance of 7·5 km of particular sites. That is a huge drawback for our farming community. Declan McAleer said that Sinn Féin supports a logical and well-thought-out policy and said that a one-size-fits-all approach to ammonia was neither "fair" nor "sustainable". That is a fair assessment; a one-size-fits-all approach will not be fair or sustainable to our farming communities. Another issue that has been raised around the Chamber today is that new and replacement dwellings must be treated with different measures; not all measures in the draft strategy are suitable or sustainable. Any proposal must be subject to a rural impact assessment. Perhaps the Minister will take all those issues on board. The Alliance Members who spoke said, of course, that they were not in favour of the motion. That is no surprise to us. Patsy McGlone said that investment in improving farm buildings is essential. That process must be looked at again. The Minister talked about striking a balance that provides new buildings and protects our environment. He talked about bringing forward capital investment measures to help businesses improve their environmental performance.

Thank you. We look forward to those measures, and to the Minister providing the clarity that has been asked for around the Chamber today. I commend the motion to the House.

1,142 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:43 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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