‘Farmers and the agri-food sector are under considerable pressure’

DAERA Minister Edwin Poots took time earlier this week, prior to the very sad passing of his father Charlie, to talk to the Farming Life about his views on a number of Covid-19 affected matters.

One of his key messages was his belief that garden centres should be opened to the public once more.

“This is the time of year when people go to garden centres, and buy their bedding plants and so on,” he said.

“Around 60 per cent of their materials are sold in these early months, and they haven’t been able to operate.

“I have told the Executive that if they are not prepared to open up the garden centres, they need to find £16 million somewhere - which they don’t have.

“So in my opinion they need to lay out how they can be allowed to open with social distancing taking place.”

He continued: “I make the argument that if off licences are open, and people are queued down the street, or together in a shop of a hundred square feet, then a garden centre of two acres should be able to manage social distancing.”

The Minister also made the point that horticultural interests were vital in terms of some people’s mental health - an issue which was more important than ever at this pressured and worrying time.

“The argument had been made that bicycle shops should remain open as a lot of people find cycling therapeutic.

“But there is another band of people who feel the same about gardening, and they will want to go out and buy a few plants, plant them in the garden and watch them grow - and that’s a good thing to be doing.”

However, he did welcome news that most marts were hoping to be up running again in a fortnight or so, with newly imposed social distancing measures in place.

“This may entail sellers arriving with all of the animals and their documentation ready, dropping them off, and going home,” he said.

“The traders will then sell them to a limited number of traders who will be allowed into the marts.

“The exact number will depend on the size of the ring and how many people can reasonable social distance at any one time. Some rings are obviously bigger than others.

“Some might hold 30 or 40 buyers. It’s really about social distance within the mart.”

Mr Poots said this could become tricky if say a seller dropping animals off wanted to buy as well, as was often the case in the past.

And he said that more marts could follow the example of Beatties Livestock Mart in Co Tyrone and Co Londonderry by introducing online auctions.

But Mr Poots conceded that the agri-food and farming sector in Northern Ireland was now starting to really feel the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, as the price of milk and meat plummeted.

He said that some farmers were “quickly moving into a loss making scenario” as demand slumped following the closure of cafes and restaurants.

“Farmers and the agri-food sector are under considerable pressure,” he said.

“I have been working with my colleagues in England, Scotland and Wales in terms of getting that message over to Minister Eustice. (The RT Honourable George Eustice MP is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

“I’ve also been looking to see what can be done through talks with my counterpart in the Republic, Minister (Michael) Creed.”

Mr Poots said that although farmers in Northern Ireland had not been “immediately impacted by Coronavirus, that impact was now being felt.”

And he reiterated his intention to push for support for the sector.

“We have seen a cut in milk and beef prices and we are anticipating further cuts. We are pretty sure that they are coming soon.

“So we can see what’s happening.

“Unfortunately because we are sort of at the end of the queue, the Chancellor might have set the bar a bit higher than for some of those who were affected at the start, if that makes sense.

“And that makes it very unfortunate for the agri-food sector.

“But is not going to be for the want of pressing and pushing and trying, because I don’t intend to let this go easily.”

The Minister said that the beef industry had been “treading water” even prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now that difficulty was “turning into something more significant.”

He also said with the fact that restaurants were likely to be amongst the last businesses to re-open, these poor prices could “drag on for a period of time.”