NI Agriculture: Edwin Poots promises 'significant change' on farm policy

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has set out some detail on the shape of Northern Ireland's future farm policy and promised "significant change".

Mr Poots was speaking during assembly questions on Tuesday.

He said there would be "modest change" next year, with more significant change in 2022.

He said he expected the new policy would support food production and farmers implementing significant measures to protect the environment.

For now, officials in Northern Ireland have taken powers in the UK Agriculture Bill to ensure business as usual and that farmers continue to get support payments.

But a new Stormont farm policy, reflecting the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland's network of mainly small, family-run farms, will be necessary.

Mr Poots has already announced some changes to the EU-shaped policy he inherited.

Next year, arable farmers will no longer have to follow rules on crop diversification and farming a small percentage of their land with biodiversity in mind.

Mr Poots said he was also minded to support farmers growing protein crops for animal feed, which would help displace imported protein from countries with a poor environmental record.

He said such crops could also help fix nitrogen in the soil, preventing its deposition on sensitive sites such as peatland and reducing the need for artificial fertiliser.

He said there was a course of work to be done "based on ensuring that production is supported and ensuring that high environmental standards are applied, so that we can ensure agriculture plays its part in reducing damage to the environment".

"No doubt there will be change and significant change, but I think the change will be more measured towards what we want to actually achieve and that is continued growth of agriculture and continued reduction of the impact of agriculture on the environment," he added.