The NI Grain Trade Association celebrated its 50th annual dinner with the appointment of four new honorary members.
NIGTA President, Alan Johnston is pictured centre with from left: David Malseed, Patrick Montgomery, Richard Scott and Robert Barnett.
NIGTA's 50th Annual Dinner
Congratulations to Owen Brennan on receiving the Belfast Telegraph Cup.
Owen is a long time member of our executive committee and has served three terms as President of NIGTA. The award is made for outstanding achievement in the agri food sector and was presented to Owen at the Ulster Farmers Union annual dinner.
Making the announcement, UFU President Ian Marshall said “From starting life on a small family farm in Carlow to heading up the multi-national company, Devenish Nutrition, trading in 25 countries worldwide, with a turnover of £150 million and 350 staff, Owen is a stalwart of Northern Ireland’s agri food industry.
“His vision, co-operation and interest in the future of the agri-food industry are what make him and his business unique. His investment in research facilities and his willingness to give personal support to progress the agri food industry are also widely recognised.
“Owen also gives up his time freely to any projects that will benefit the agri-food industry. He has served as President of the NI Grain Trade Association, chairman of the Livestock and Meat Commission and currently he is a member of the Agri-Food Strategy Board, Based on this resume I cannot think of a more deserving winner for this year’s Belfast Telegraph Cup.”
The wide range of support services, and the groups and individuals that have been assisted by Rural Support were outlined by Jude McCann, Development Director, Rural Support, at the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association’s recent annual general meeting and lunch.
Jude pointed out that Rural Support had 33 volunteers who assisted with a very wide range of problems for farming and rural families across all of Northern Ireland. There is a helpline available from 8.00AM to 11.00PM seven days a week with voicemail and support options available at all other times. It offers a listening ear and signposting service for issues such as farming information and technical queries, financial matters, physical and emotional health, suicide risk and family /relationship issues.
Jude emphasised that Rural Support's vision is to contribute to a healthy, sustainable rural community by providing individual support and promoting positive mental health and well-being. He added “We provide confidential non-judgemental support to farmers and rural dwellers. At present 33 volunteers give their time, knowledge, expertise and experience to those who require it. They undertake helpline cover, finance mentoring, work/life balance guidance, counselling, promotion and outreach.”
The key drivers of rural stress have been identified as; 1) Shifting Policies and Financial Pressures, 2) Instability, Risk and Uncertainty, 3) Increasing Isolation and Service Provision and 4)Family Pressures.
A review of helpline calls revealed that almost 40% of callers highlighted Farm Finance and Debt issues as the main reason for calling. Other reasons included relationship problems, mental health issues, paperwork, government schemes, inheritance and succession, health and isolation. More recent issues emanating from CAP reform have added to some of the problems.
Volunteers are matched to the person, group and problem eg. Rural Support has nine finance mentors who assist with financial problems. Jude added “ Rural Support can claim to have saved lives, marriages and businesses in addition to helping callers find a better quality of life.”
Alan Johnston, President of NIGTA thanked Jude for his time and excellent presentation and announced that Rural Support is the chosen charity for support at NIGTA’s annual dinner in April.
At the annual general meeting Alan Johnston was re-elected as President and David O’Connor as Vice President. David Malseed announced his retirement from the post of Honorary Secretary and it was unanimously agreed that his contribution to the Association - as a Past President, Honorary Secretary and Executive Committee member would be missed by the Association. Patrick McLaughlin was elected as the new Honorary Secretary and Stephen Burrell was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer.
NIGTA Rural Support Meeting March 2015
“This is the ongoing aim agreed and being implemented by the agri food industry and government working together” Peter Scott from DARD’s Climate Change and Renewable Energy Branch told a meeting of registered feed advisers organised by the NI Grain Trade Association.
Outlining recent developments for achieving this aim Peter stated that the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) report issued in September pointed to efficient and good farming practice as the key to achieving GHG reductions with carbon intensity being the measurement.
He also noted that Climate Change is an element of the Rural Development Programme and one of the measures within this is “precision livestock feeding”.
In line with these recommendations the NI Greenhouse Gas Implementation Partnership which includes representatives from government and all sectors of the agri food industry has formed a sequestrian sub group to sit alongside the arable, dairy and red meat subgroups.
The sequestrian sub group will examine the potential to reduce agriculture’s total carbon footprint by maximising the carbon stored in soil, grassland and forestry – better nutrient management is the core theme.
The NI Greenhouse Gas Implementation Partnership’s strategy will be aligned with the Rural Development Programme’s efficiency measures that deliver carbon savings. This efficiency is vital to ensure that imported food with a much higher carbon footprint does not replace local produce.
Peter Scott emphasised that the overall aim is not only to meet legislative targets but to make Northern Ireland one of the most carbon efficient places in the world to produce food. The members of the Feed Advisers Register (FAR) would play a vital role in communicating this message at grass roots level and in assisting the industry to achieve the efficiency measures required.
Feed Adviser Training
Following these comments, George Perrott, Head of Feed Sector AIC (Agricultural Industries Confederation), which is NIGTA’s affiliated organisation in GB, told the seminar that over 100 feed advisers in Northern Ireland are registered with FAR (Feed Advisers Register). Progress training for this is carried out on-line and includes environmental aspects, farming systems and profitability. He pointed out that all of these sectors are inter-related and advisers must be familiar with all of them in order to assist farmers to achieve these objectives.
Advisers who complete Module 1 of the training programme will be familiar with the various environmental emissions, the nutrient content of forages and feeds; feed management systems; feed labelling; measuring of feed performance and environmental aspects including the Greenhouse Gas Action Plan.
Module two will be devoted to the nutritional link to animal health and fertility in ruminants. Advisers must be aware of the on-farm opportunities to improve fertility, health and welfare. They must have the knowledge to determine the nutrients supplied from home produced feed and forage and be cognisant of ALL sources of mineral and vitamins from feed – mineral licks, buckets, water, bolus, drench, injection etc and advise how to balance these in the overall feeding programme.
Advisers must show competency with computer rationing programs and work with the farmer to monitor production performance data, assisting with improvement plans where necessary.
Awareness of customer requirements will be an important knowledge area – understanding processor contracts, environmental and welfare requirements, and government and European policy pressures.
George added “ Farm advisers are an important source of information and advice since they are interacting on a one-to –one basis with the farmer, and have built a relationship of trust and confidence. Their input will help ensure that the industry plays its part in the environmental and animal welfare aspects along with farm profitability in order to achieve sustainable and profitable food production in the province.
FAR Seminar 2014
At the NIGTA annual general meeting Alan Johnston was re-elected as President and David O’Connor as Vice President.
David Malseed announced his retirement from the post of Honorary Secretary and it was unanimously agreed that his contribution to the Association - as a Past President, Honorary Secretary and Executive Committee member would be missed by the Association.
Patrick McLaughlin was elected as the new Honorary Secretary and Stephen Burrell was re-elected as Honorary Treasurer.
NIGTA Rural Support Meeting March 2015
The recent visit of the new EU Agriculture commissioner to Belfast allowed the opportunity to raise NIGTA’s concerns on a number of issues.
In a question and answer session with businesses in the Agrifood sector we raised the question of official controls and charging for regulation - stressing that more recognition needs to be given to existing schemes run by the industry and that there was the opportunity for regulators and businesses to share information on risk assessment and the results of surveillance and sampling programs. This approach could deliver better value for everyone.
The commissioner responded that he was committed to reduce regulation and that he would be using his best efforts to delay any charging for regulation until the system had been reviewed and streamlined so that controls would be efficient and cost effective.
We raised the issue of environmental regulation and commented that regulators failed to recognise the good work which had been carried out by industry. In particular the massive increase in output from the agrifood sector in Northern Ireland had been achieved with minimal environmental impact and the fact that 80% of this output was consumed outside the province was not fully recognised. The commissioner appeared to be sympathetic to these comments and stressed the need for agriculture to grow and not be penalised by unreasonable regulation.
The commissioner also attended an event hosted by Queens University featuring the work of Moy Park and Devenish Nutrition in developing functional foods which bring health benefits to the consumer. This included a presentation on the Food Fortress program which has been adopted by the local feed industry.
“The feed trade in Northern Ireland is led by a highly effective and well coordinated body delivering benefit to businesses in the sector and agriculture in general”. These were the words of David Caffall, Chief Executive of Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) speaking to a meeting of the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association (NIGTA) which is its affilaited organisation in the province. “The recent agreement on a closer working relationship between AIC and NIGTA whereby businesses are offered joint membership of both organisations – ensures that they have a voice not just locally but also in Whitehall and Brussels. The significant increase in the NIGTA membership in the last year would suggest that this has been well received by the trade”.
He added “The development of assurance schemes to safeguard the industry, the formation of a feed adviser register which recognises and develops expertise in advice delivered on farm and the proactive response to the environmental issues around Greenhouse Gas and the Nitrates directive are all evidence of the positive role the trade has played in the wider industry – and of course the Food Fortress program developed with Queens University, has put the Northern Ireland in a world leading position in the field of feed and food safety”.
Mr Caffall spoke of the volume of legislation which businesses are subject to - “The environment regulations apply not only to farms but also to feed mills and are ever more restrictive and expensive to comply with. Concerns about the build up of antibiotic resistance in humans (AMR) will mean significant changes to the procedures for ordering and production of medicated feeds which will inevitably add to costs. We continue to lobby hard to ensure that regulation does not damage the competitiveness of businesses in the feed and supply sector. On the positive side we are pleased to see increased recognition of the excellent assurance schemes which we have created to ensure high standards of quality and safety throughout the trade. We have convinced the regulators that businesses with a good record of compliance and who are members of the relevant assurance schemes are low risk and should receive a “lighter touch” in terms of inspections. This is an important principle - given that we can expect the cost of official controls to be borne by the industry in the future”.
Mr Caffall will deliver one of the keynote papers at next weeks prestigeous Oxford Farming Conference on the theme of "Supply Chain in the Balance" which will explore the threats and opportunities which face the industry.
NIGTA December Meeting 2014
While there are more positive signs long term, the dairy and beef sectors are potentially facing a difficult winter, according to Trevor Lockhart, Chief Executive of the Fane Valley Group.
Speaking at the quarterly lunch of the NI Grain Trade Association, Trevor pointed out that 18 months of higher milk prices had encouraged global production to escalate at twice the rate of the growth in demand. This oversupply situation has been exacerbated by a decline in demand from China and more recently by the Russian ban on European dairy products.
According to the Fane Valley CEO the supply and demand dynamics have therefore shifted firmly in favour of product buyers who are now utilising built up stocks and only entering the market to fill their short term needs. As a consequence global dairy markets have fallen by approximately 45%. In spite of EU measures such as private storage aid, local farm gate milk prices have fallen sharply as they begin to reflect the overall weakness of dairy markets and the stubborn resistance of buyers to purchase ahead.
Although the emergency support measures introduced by the EU will be of some small benefit private storage is not an attractive outlet for processors particularly as the product will re-emerge at a later date. Against this backdrop and the prospect of cheaper feed costs in the USA and the southern hemisphere peak season being only a matter of weeks away Trevor forecast that the downward pressure on dairy markets looked set to persist for the short term. He added that although local processors will do everything possible to support milk prices through the forthcoming period the winter months will be extremely difficult for all concerned.
Turning to the beef situation, Trevor highlighted the various factors which had combined to once again shift the supply and demand balance against the producer. He explained that although the ‘horsegate’ scare had resulted in a significant increased demand for ‘in-spec’ cattle across the UK the improved farm gate prices had been short-lived. Higher levels of EU beef production and imports coupled with reduced exports and falling beef consumption had since created a ‘perfect storm’ which had led to a huge build-up of frozen manufacturing beef stocks within Europe which in turn had significantly undermined the market.
Of particular note was the impact of a ban on ritual slaughter methods in Poland which resulted in this meat being sold widely within Europe as opposed to moving eastward and a decision by many UK retailers to reduce the promotional activity around beef in the aftermath of ‘horsegate’.
By way of illustration Trevor explained that the price of the various grades of forequarter or manufacturing meat, which constitutes a significant part of the value of a carcass had fallen by £1 to £1.50per kilo over the past year. This he said has had a material impact on the available returns and pushed beef finishing into significant losses, a position he warned was unsustainable.
On a more positive note Trevor drew attention to emerging opportunities to potentially export beef products outside the EU from the Republic of Ireland and the UK both of which could, in the first instance, assist in regularising the beef stock situation and underpin an improved market outlook. But first he pointed out the industry must overcome several hurdles the most important of which was securing the necessary market access approvals for both Northern Ireland and the individual factories who wish to engage.
One possible viable market is manufacturing meat into the USA. The decline in USA internal beef output along with the opportunity for South America to fill the void in Russia, has resulted in an opportunity for beef exports to the USA at prices above current EU levels. The Philippines and China may also offer opportunities for Ireland and/or UK.
Overall however, Trevor stressed that the short term outlook remained very uncertain. He added “When you consider the recent price reductions and the short term market challenges together with the prospects of a significant tax bill for many producers in January based on an earlier period of higher prices, then in the absence of a return to improved markets, the cash flow strains on livestock farms will inevitably build as we progress through the winter. ”
NIGTA Fane Valley Meeting September 2014
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