AQW 16562/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 18/03/2021
Answered On Date: 02/04/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support family farm businesses in Northern Ireland to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

Answer:

My Department support the Agri-Forestry Greenhouse Gas Implementation Partnership’s (GHGIP) action plan ‘Efficient Farming Cuts Greenhouse Gases Implementation Plan to tackle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. There is a strong emphasis on both nutrient and livestock management within the plan.

The farmed landscape also contains important sinks for carbon in soils, peatlands, forestry, hedgerows and farm trees.

The ability of our farmed landscape to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon in soils and vegetation places farmers, as our primary land managers, at the forefront of efforts to offset local GHG emissions and contribute to the UK Net Zero by 2050 ambition.

My department will continue to assist farmers adopt low-carbon farming practices through scientific research, knowledge transfer and farm support schemes.

Among the body of scientific research is work to more accurately account for the amount of carbon stored and sequestered in our grassland soils. Emerging evidence indicates that managed grasslands continue to sequester carbon after many decades and sequestration rates are enhanced where cattle slurry is applied, a common practice on farms in NI.

CAFRE is delivering advice to approximately 415 farms through the new Environmental Business Development Group Programme where 20 groups have been set up across the province focusing on sustainable farm systems and helping farmers identify carbon reduction measures and how to help protect the environment.

Forest Service is leading on ‘Forests for our Future’ aiming to create 9,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030 and plan to open a new stand-alone Small Woodland Grant Scheme to help farmers integrate woodland on their farms. Also, the Environmental Farming Scheme supports over 5,000 farms via carbon friendly practices including maintaining and establishing native woodland, hedgerows, agro-forestry and peatland restoration.

The Farm Business Improvement Scheme Capital (FBIS-C) has provided almost £14.5m of grant aid in total to over 3,000 farm businesses over the first two tranches of Tier 1, which has helped support the purchase of a large range of more efficient, precision and emissions reducing technologies. Letters of Offer have begun to issue for the third tranche of Tier 1 FBIS Capital, which has a funding allocation of £15million, following the very positive response in applications received, particularly for Low Emissions Slurry Spreading Equipment.

My officials will continue to develop measures of support for farms to play their part in reducing emissions and help them protect the environment.

My department will also continue to progress other initiatives including plans to consult on a strategy to reduce ammonia emissions, issuing of Pollution Prevention and Control Farm Permits, promoting use of technologies like low emissions slurry spreading equipment and working with the Greenhouse Gas Implementation Partnership.