Demand for Rural Support up 40%

Demand for the services provided by Rural Support has risen by more than 40%, according to the charity’s director of operations Gyles Dawson.

At a Nuffield Farming Scholarship dinner in Belfast last week, Dawson described Rural Support as “a lifeline” for families who feel overwhelmed by the challenges of farming.

“From providing practical guidance on managing finances, to offering confident mental health counselling, Rural Support has been and always will be there for those people that are in need,” he said.

“Over this last three years, 648 individuals have had counselling and business mentoring support, 1,700 people have rung our support line, and 734 individuals have been helped through other programmes.”

NI farm budget

There is “positive momentum” for the budget for NI farm schemes to be protected, the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said.

Last month, the Treasury announced agricultural funding in devolved regions of the UK will no longer be ring-fenced, so it could potentially be used by other government departments.

In a statement on Tuesday, UFU president William Irvine said there is support among all political parties in NI at present for the farm budget to be protected.

“The mood music is encouraging, […] but let’s not fool ourselves – we need this budget to be protected indefinitely and linked to inflation,” he said.

Welsh drop 10% tree cover plan

The Welsh Government has confirmed that farmers will not be required to plant 10% of land in trees if they want to participate in a new Sustainable Farming Scheme, due to replace the current Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) from 2026.

The original plan for tree planting was widely opposed by farming organisations. However, while the farm-level figure has been removed, there will still be a scheme-wide target.

“It was clear changes were needed – we said we would listen, and we’ve done just that,” said Welsh Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies.

Upcoming beef and sheep events

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), in partnership with CAFRE and the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) is hosting two webinars for beef and sheep farmers.

The events will look at how making small improvements to farm efficiency can increase margins and sustainability. The first webinar takes place at 7.30pm on 3 December and will focus on beef, with contributions from CAFRE and LMC representatives, along with Pomeroy beef farmer, Declan Rafferty. The second event is targeted at sheep farmers and takes place at 7.30pm on 10 December. Speakers include Dungannon sheep farmer, Mark Davidson. Register via ufuni.org.

Foyle wins at world steak challenge

Omagh-based Foyle Food Group was the only company from Britain or Ireland to be among the main category winners at the World Steak Challenge held in London earlier in November.

Foyle took home the award for best ribeye grass-fed steak, alongside restaurant partner Miller & Carter.

The overall best steak went to Australian company Jack’s Creek and European importer, Albers, with a sirloin from grain-fed Wagyu beef.

ABP Poland won in two categories, with companies from Argentina and Germany also taking home some of the main awards.

Graham joins top team at Dale Farm

Neville Graham has joined the executive leadership team at Dale Farm, having taken up a new role as producer services director at the farmer-owned co-op.

A former CAFRE employee, Graham joined Dale Farm in 2017 where he has held a number of roles.