Give every farm bio security against Blue Tongue, UUP urges Stormont Executive
The best Christmas present the Stormont Executive could give the Province’s agricultural sector is to ensure that every farm in Northern Ireland has been given bio security measures against the current Blue Tongue threat, the East Londonderry UUP association Chairman Robert Carmichael has urged.
In a statement on behalf of the UUP association, Mr Carmichael warned: “The Stormont Agriculture Minister has regretfully confirmed that Blue Tongue has now been found in one farm in Northern Ireland.
“Not just this specific minister, but the entire Stormont Executive must work together to ensure Blue Tongue does not become a major threat to our livestock in the same way as our farming industry has been hit by Bovine TB and the past Foot and Mouth epidemic.
“Before the Stormont Executive heads off on its traditional Christmas recess later this month, it must primarily ensure that measures are put in place to protect our farms from Blue Tongue. This can only be done by implementing a policy of bio security measures for every farm across Northern Ireland, and not just in my native East Londonderry.
“Whilst we in the East Londonderry UUP Association want to see all farms in our constituency fully protected, we realise that to effectively combat any spread of Blue Tongue, we must take the entire province into consideration.
“This call by us in the UUP for a Province-wide bio security programme for all farms should not be misinterpreted as the farming community whinging for a slice of the £370 million package recently announced by the Chancellor in her recent autumn budget.
“This is a direct plea to the Stormont Executive to ensure that all our farms are fully protected and one of the best Christmas presents the Executive could give our hard-pressed farming community is to invest in a vaccination programme to guarantee the future of many farms.
“We welcome the announcement from the Agriculture Minister and others from the farming community that Blue Tongue poses no health risk to humans. This fact must be emphasised at all possible opportunities as we do not want a health panic among the population whereby they decide to stop buying locally produced produce.
“The wider community has a role to play, too, in this current Blue Tongue challenge. They can help our farming community this festive season by ‘Supporting Local by Buying Local’. This is our appeal to constituencies right across Northern Ireland.
“If the Stormont Executive, the farming community, and consumers can work together in partnership, we can defeat this latest threat to our livestock,” said Mr Carmichael.