A proposed £70m aid package to help address cashflow problems on NI farms is unlikely to be paid out quickly.

The Department of Finance has confirmed that the funding cannot be handed over to DAERA at present due to the ongoing political stalemate at Stormont.

“In the absence of an Executive, the minister does not have the authority to make allocations to departments,” a spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

There are concerns that roll-out of the proposed support could be delayed further if a new Executive is not formed soon after the upcoming Assembly election on 5 May.

Details of the proposed aid package are scarce, although Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots confirmed last week that a bid for £70m has been submitted to the Department of Finance.

The Single Farm Payment method might be one way of doing it

The DUP politician told Stormont’s agriculture committee that Basic Payment Scheme claims could potentially be used as a basis for distributing some of the fund to NI farmers.

“The Single Farm Payment method might be one way of doing it, but then we would need to look at how we could support those sectors which don’t benefit much from the Single Farm Payment, [such as] the pork and poultry sectors,” he said.

MLAs on the committee were also told that producer prices need to rise across all sectors to compensate for spiralling costs on NI farms.

“There is no doubt that with rising input costs, such as energy, grain and fertiliser, farmers will need to be paid more for their products,” Minister Poots said.

In this crisis, the middleman could have some room to absorb some of those costs

Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president Victor Chesnutt argued that higher producer prices do not have to lead to the same rise in food prices for consumers.

The Bushmills farmer suggested there could be scope for processors and retailers to accept lower profit margins to help offset rising production costs.

“In this crisis, the middleman could have some room to absorb some of those costs, [because] certainly the farmer cannot absorb them,” he said.

Feed rules and nitrogen review needed

Aside from a financial aid package and higher producer prices, several other measures to lessen the impact of the war in Ukraine on NI farms were discussed at Stormont last week.

Gill Gallagher from the NI Grain Trade Association made the case for reviewing regulations around animal feed to allow mills more choice when buying straights.

In particular, she is asking for flexibility on rules for residues of plant protection product on imported grain which could allow mills to buy more maize from South America.

It would give us more flexibility to source from other regions

This is needed because the usual market for maize at this time of year is Ukraine and no shipments have been able to leave the country since the Russian invasion. The other animal feed regulation that millers want reviewed surrounds how genetically modified crops are defined.

“It would give us more flexibility to source from other regions, like North America for corn (maize) in particular,” Gallagher said.

Nitrogen

With availability of fertiliser likely to remain a key issue in the months ahead, UFU president Victor Chestnutt suggested rules on nitrogen loading limits could be more flexible. If slurry and poultry litter didn’t have to be exported to keep within the limits, it would allow farmers to use more of their organic manure.

Other measures discussed with MLAs last week will require decisions to be made at UK government level

“We may need relaxation on the 170kg/ha and 250 kg/ha nitrogen [limit] to allow us to look outside the box because if we can’t get nutrients brought into NI, our crop [yields] will reduce,” Chestnutt said.

Other measures discussed with MLAs last week will require decisions to be made at UK government level. These include lowering duties and taxes on fuels and delaying upcoming changes to the red diesel rebate.