UFU Commodity watch: Are politicians listening?

​A key question remains - are politicians listening?

Critical matters

On some topics our politicians are very focused and rightly so, on solving critical matters such as Lough Neagh and securing a cleaner future for the lough. On climate change, politicians frequently trot out the line that ‘we must follow the science’, although when it came to the NI Climate Change Act in 2022, politicians ignored their own advice and backed unfeasible targets.

Policy decisions are at risk of turning into a pick and mix of tackling problems and addressing issues to simply be popular and ignoring what is difficult. When it comes to tackling Bovine TB in Northern Ireland, we are driving backwards toward the cliff edge with some political quarters again ignoring scientific evidence. On the issue of ammonia and agricultural planning, there doesn’t appear to be much light at the end of the tunnel at this stage.

Autumn

Looking towards the autumn the outcome of the Labour Government’s budget will be the most significant decision to be taken for farm families this year, as it will provide the basis on which UK farmers find out what money will be allocated. UK farmers currently receive approximately a pot of £3 billion, with NI farmers receiving an allocation of approximately £330 million. Our politicians will need to understand the importance of this money to farmers and the percentage of income it represents.

We could also ask another question - do politicians have to listen to what farm families say? The obvious answer is yes, with the agri-food sector being so vital to NI’s economy and worth £6 billion, feeding over 10 million people and providing income directly for at least 113,000 jobs. However, when you scratch beneath the surface the ever growing urban-rural divide poses a great problem, not only for farmers and consumers who understand less and less about the food they consume with each passing generation, but also for politicians who at times, must dance to two different tunes. One played by those who live in towns and another by those who live in the countryside.

Lobbying

With the greater the chasm, the more difficult political lobbying becomes, politicians must best decide how to manage competing priorities of which there are many. The alternative is for politicians to ignore what the agricultural community is saying, similar to what the EU chose to do earlier this year, igniting a tinder box of anger which resulted in mass protests across Europe (something local politicians will hopefully try to avoid).

The source of a great deal of challenges in farming can be traced back to bad weather and commodity prices, matters which no MP or MLA can resolve.

However, agricultural policy at all times is under political control. Even though at times it certainly does feel that the family farm is in terminal decline, it is our greatest asset. The challenge for farmers must be to continue to demonstrate, no matter how unimportant we may feel to politicians and policy makers, the sustainable and radical change in farming practices that have and continue to be made, why our efforts benefit wider society and why they should be financially rewarded.