‘Agriculture is a cornerstone that cannot be diminished’ - Carla Lockhart

Carla Lockhart may only have been an MP, and indeed, her party’s Agriculture Committee representative at Westminster, for less than a year, but she’s clearly clued in when it comes to the most important issues Ulster farmers face.

The DUP woman, who was elected as MP for the Upper Bann constituency last December, is determined to be a voice for the agricultural sector here in Northern Ireland, and lobby hard to ensure its needs are recognised.

She doesn’t miss a beat when I ask her what those issues are.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty around Brexit, and the basic farm payment, so it is important that we ensure that there is certainty around income for farmers and their families,” said the Aughnacloy-born politician, who grew up herself in a farming family.

“Food standards are also a massive issue at the moment. We would have been keen to see, within the Agriculture bill or the Trade bill, an intention to protect our markets, because ultimately, not doing so, will diminish our ability to thrive within our own sector.

“Our farmers have world class standards, in terms of environmental, sustainability, and that field to fork ethos.

“Yet we are fearful that the government don’t take it seriously enough, and that they could be undermined by sub standard products. But we will continue to lobby and to monitor this and ensure that our standards are upheld.”

Carla added that given the fact that the “farming community had kept the country going throughout lockdown”, it was more vital than ever to give them the support they needed.

“They have fed the nation and gone out of their way to continue to supply food. We need to reward then for that. This really is the time to sell that British produce story.”

Indeed, as the former Craigavon BC Mayor and farmer’s wife observes, “for everyone, 2020 has been a really bizarre year.”

And for Carla personally, that very much is true, as she had really only begun her new Parliamentary career, when Covid-19 hit, and with that, lockdown.

“I had just been starting to learn the ropes and get my head around the protocols of Westminster, and all the historical trappings, in relation to how you conduct your business - which are quite mind blowing,” she says.

“So it’s been a really challenging time, because I was just getting used to what was required of me, and then everything changed.

“For a short period, we had to conduct all our business virtually, but I very quickly returned to the Chamber just after Easter as there were a couple of topics and issues that were very dear to me.”

Aside from the controversy surrounding changes to Northern Ireland’s abortion laws, something Carla has in the past been very vocal about, farming and agriculture were also high up on her professional agenda.

Her predecessor, David Simpson, had also been Agriculture spokesperson on DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), and as Carla says, the area fell naturally to her as well as an Upper Bann representative, given the prevalence of the agri-food sector in this constituency.

“We are a rural constituency, and we have some of the largest employers in Northern Ireland based here. I knew that I could be a voice, and obviously what with all the Brexit talks coming up, I felt that it was important that all those businesses and farmers had that voice and that channel, and I felt that I could be that conduit between them and the government.”

As Carla points out, agriculture is a major employer in general in this country, responsible for the livelihoods of over 100,000 people.

“It is a building block, a cornerstone that cannot be diminished, and it is a sector that props up so many other sectors, so it is absolutely vital that in terms of any negotiations and legislation that will come forward in terms of it in the future, we have our voice heard at Westminster.

“Our farms are very different to those in England; we are more rural, and we have smaller holdings, whereas on the mainland they gravitate towards bigger factory farming. So it’s important that I continue to make the point that NI is different, and that we do have special circumstances.”

Carla also believes more needs to be done to encourage more young people to make farming a career, and feels that it’s a sector that really needs their input.

“We need to make it an industry that is appealing to younger people,” she says.

“And that starts in schools. Farming is difficult as a career, but it takes young people to move it on, to being that kind of ‘business’ approach.

“A lot of our farmers are just used to the hard graft and the physical work, whereas now so much of it is IT based, such as all the registrations of the births and deaths and so on.

“Things are moving on.”

Returning to the subject of own career, there is no doubt that Carla is enjoying her role at Westminster, and all the learning that is going with it, in terms of both the expectations of a Parliamentary politician, and a voice for her rural constituents.

“Westminster is a huge change from the Assembly,” she says. “You have a lot of very learned people around you.

“I am enjoying it all, and as I say I feel humbled to be here, and I will be here as long as the people decide to put me in this place, and that there is space for more growth within the sector.”