AQO 1778/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 13/03/2025
Answered On Date: 26/03/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline any actions being taken to provide any support for arable farming.

Answer:

My Department’s Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP) will promote more efficient and sustainable farming practices to all sectors, including the arable sector, through a mix of incentivisation, innovation, and enhanced farmer knowledge and training with a firm focus on data to help with decision making.

As I outlined recently at the Ulster Arable Society and UFU’s Arable Conference, I recognise that the arable sector has an important role to play in contributing to reductions in emissions from agriculture to achieve our net zero targets and in delivering improvements in water quality working in partnership with livestock producers.

Examples of the schemes within SAP that will provide support for arable farming in Northern Ireland include: the Farming with Nature Package, the Farm Sustainability Payment, Farming for Sustainability -Knowledge Transfer, the Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme, and the Protein Crops Scheme.

These SAP Schemes will, as far as possible, seek to recognise and reward the public goods provided by arable farmers and other farm businesses through the delivery of improved environmental outcomes.