Lockhart – Future can be bright for local agri-food

She said: “When the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, we were told it would spell a doomsday scenario for our local agriculture industry. This has not been the case, and the document unveiled this week by my colleague Edwin Poots MLA offers a blueprint for driving forward our agri-food industry in the future.

“It is a blueprint made in Northern Ireland, tailored to the local industry, with the sole objective of driving forward our local farms and agri-food sector.

“The one size fits all straight-jacket imposed by Brussels is gone – and with freedom comes opportunity.

“The key objective is to ensure a productive, profitable and sustainable industry going forward.

At the core of this is continuing to produce food and support food production locally. Outsourcing food production is not good for our economy or the environment. “