UFU president David Brown addresses MLAs at Stormont during the launch of the new campaign.
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00:00 I suppose we look upon this as an opportunity to engage with the newly re-established Assembly.
00:06 I just want to highlight to you, these are available, these are I suppose a UFU manifesto
00:11 drawn up for all you good politicians in order to be able to know I suppose the priorities
00:16 that we as an agricultural industry have.
00:18 So I would encourage you to make sure you have one of these.
00:22 I want to just take a few minutes perhaps maybe to give us a little bit of a back right.
00:27 So UFU, a union for everyone, because fundamentally when we live and work in rural areas we do
00:33 not have any political persuasion and therefore we fundamentally want to represent all of
00:40 agriculture and we pride ourselves in working for all of agriculture.
00:45 I suppose at the end of the day recognising the nature of the farming businesses that
00:50 we represent.
00:52 I was across last week at the NFU conference and it's very evident why Manette Batter
00:56 stood down as a tenant farmer.
01:00 The two new incumbents, the new president and deputy president, one of them farming
01:04 2,400 acres and the other 3,000 acres, rather different from what we have here in Northern
01:11 Ireland in our family farm structure.
01:13 With 24,000 family farms here in Northern Ireland or thereabouts, and those generations,
01:20 family farms where people work together, husbands, wives, next generation, often three generations,
01:26 sons, daughters and beyond.
01:28 So that I suppose creates a unique bond, a unique commitment to the work that we do with
01:33 our crops and with our livestock.
01:36 We've over six billion in agri-food sales and I suppose the food and drink industry
01:41 that we represent employs well over 100,000 people.
01:45 So in terms of the economy of Northern Ireland it plays a significant part.
01:49 In the UK as a whole, the whole food and drink sector is worth over 128 billion and I suppose
01:57 to the economy with the UK only 60% self-sufficient in food, we recognise that the majority of
02:04 our produce here from Northern Ireland ends up feeding the nation.
02:08 I appreciate that's a phrase that perhaps the supermarkets would wish to coin for themselves
02:12 but fundamentally we as farmers are those who produce that food on our farms.
02:18 Almost half of what we produce in Northern Ireland, 47% lands in the GB marketplace,
02:23 around about 15% goes into ROI and 8% to the rest of the EU, so roughly 24% into effectively
02:32 the EU and the other 24% consumed here with a small 4-5% going to the rest of the world.
02:39 So in terms of what we produce and where it goes and in terms of who we feed, fundamentally
02:45 I suppose we recognise it's almost 50-25-25 in terms of that division.
02:51 But investing in our farm sector is essential for productivity, for job creation as I've
02:56 said much wider than just those who actually farm the land and for the economic delivery
03:01 that we as a country wish to see.
03:04 I suppose the budget for UK agriculture is under threat, that's something in our conversations
03:08 both with the Minister and indeed with others we're highlighting that we see political parties
03:14 and I saw them on the stage at the NFU conference last week trying to avoid making a commitment
03:19 as to what that budget might be, albeit I have to recognise that the Liberal Democrats
03:25 were for adding £1 billion to that UK budget in order that they would deliver on all of
03:31 the extra environmental measures that they believe are necessary going forward in the
03:35 next mandate.
03:36 I suppose importing more of our food, that's I suppose an inevitable and perhaps negative
03:43 impact that that might have on our carbon footprint and on the food we produce.
03:48 I suppose the real measure of environmental and sustainability is that the food that actually
03:53 ends up on our plates and in our cupboards and indeed on the shelves of our supermarkets
03:57 actually has been produced locally, has been produced to the high standards that are required
04:03 of our farmers and fundamentally we're not offshoring that global impact.
04:08 When we look at food transparency the emphasis is on public procurement I suppose is often
04:15 simply decided sadly on cost so that therefore those who make those decisions look at the
04:21 cost of the product and the decision is based purely on that metric alone.
04:26 We obviously in this industry want to emphasise and encourage the need to see that food produced
04:33 locally actually used in the public bodies and the public sectors that this I suppose
04:40 government represents.
04:41 I think back very recently to obviously during Covid times our consumers very quickly recognised
04:50 I suppose perhaps maybe for a short time but recognised that farmers were in fact you know
04:56 producing food locally and we were key workers at that time and you know the amazing loyalty
05:03 of our consumer was something that we very much appreciated but we recognise a cost of
05:08 living crisis and the pressure that that has done on consumers has perhaps maybe reversed
05:14 some of that with more of a focus to the forefront in terms of the actual cost of what's on the
05:20 shelf and what they're bringing home in their basket.
05:23 QFU is and will continue to support a proposal that has come forward from the rest of the
05:29 UK about identifying products where more than 50% of the ingredients are from outside the
05:36 UK in other words emphasising that level of local production and it is at the end of the
05:42 day critical that we revitalise the public support for local food production and in doing
05:48 so that we can be the best possibly for our environment alongside enabling and encouraging
05:54 support for local agriculture.
05:57 I suppose it's fair to say and I was over in Brussels just at the end of last week went
06:02 from the NFU conference across the Brussels as we do every couple of months and they were
06:07 boarding up effectively on Friday evening because of a demonstration that was about
06:13 to take place there and is taking place there today no doubt we see some of that on our
06:17 newsreels shortly but those I suppose tensions that have boiled over because of some of the
06:24 measures that have been proposed and I guess right now here in Northern Ireland we want
06:29 to work to safeguard to enhance our environment while continuing to produce the wholesome
06:36 and nutritious food that we do and we need to see fairness in the supply chain perhaps
06:41 not necessarily for this audience but fundamentally we recognise that at times we are price takers
06:47 there is a degree of dysfunctionality in terms of the food supply chain based on perhaps
06:52 at times some of the items being sold as lost leaders.
06:55 If Northern Ireland government and I'm coming to a conclusion you know wants to support
07:00 the cornerstone of our economy and genuinely cares about the fantastic environment that
07:05 we enjoy and we're better than to stand here in the sun shining on us on the balcony this
07:09 afternoon then I urge them to recognise family farms as the economic drivers and custodians
07:17 of the land that we farm.
07:18 So thank you for your time and I'll hand over to the Minister.
07:21 [APPLAUSE]