Farmers for Action (FFA) has announced that representatives from the organisation will meet with Stormont Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir during the second week of September.

"The exact date has yet to be fixed, but the meeting will take place in Belfast." said FFA spokesperson William Taylor.

“The main item on the agenda will be the proposed enactment of our Northern Ireland Farm Welfare Bill.”

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Taylor added: “We will be telling the minister that the proposed legislation represents the most effective way of delivering sustainable farm gate prices in Northern Ireland.”

FFA also plans to address the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs' (DAERA) recent decision to transition to digital-only communications with farmers, a change that is set to roll out over the coming months.

Taylor continued: “DAERA has indicated that consultations with stakeholder groups have already taken place on this matter. However, I can confirm that no contact, whatsoever, was made with FFA on this issue.”

Taylor criticised the move towards a digital-only communications policy, attributing it to the attitude of senior DAERA civil servants.

“This move really shows just how arrogant and out of touch these people really are.

“Increasingly, FFA is hearing from hard working and frustrated DAERA staff on the ground across Northern Ireland that their senior personnel do not listen to common sense anymore.

“Rural Northern Ireland is not in a good place at the present time. Stormont and its ministers need to step up and hold senior civil servants to account and definitely not the other way around.”

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) is pledging to coordinate opposition among agricultural stakeholder groups in Northern Ireland against DAERA's digital-only strategy.

ACA chair Damian McCloskey remarked: “This came up at a stakeholder meeting, involving DAERA officials, three weeks ago.

“And the idea just won’t fly. Between 10% and 15% of farmers in Northern Ireland don’t have computers, smart phones and/or email addresses.

“They are not going to change now. This is, very much, an age-related issue. Older farmers don’t do digital.”

Additionally, many farmers prefer to have consultants handle tasks such as completing and submitting single payment applications on their behalf.

A follow-up stakeholder meeting, involving representatives from the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association (NIAPA), and ACA, is scheduled for October.

McCloskey added: “The DAERA decision to move solely to digital communication will be the number one item on the agenda at that time.

“If the department of agriculture’s stance on the issue has not changed by October, a targeted lobbying campaign on the part of all the stakeholder organisations will be drawn up as a matter of priority.”