The Ulster Farmers’ Union will finally receive some much needed support for its members who were impacted following the collapse of the Northern Ireland (NI) processing potato market due to the pandemic. Last week, Minister Edwin Poots from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) announced that a financial support package for processing potato growers will be rolled out.
Farminglife.com quoted UFU deputy president William Irvine as saying: “The NI processing potato sector will benefit greatly from this support and the news will be well-received by our potato growers whose incomes were directly impacted by the pandemic. The support package will help to compensate the losses our processing potato growers incurred due to a reduction in demand from the hospitality and food service sector.”
“The market for processing potatoes in NI has been adversely impacted since October. Our potato growers have had to sell their potatoes for livestock feed at significantly reduced prices. I urge members who are selling potatoes for stock feed to retain evidence of sales to meet the anticipated scheme requirements.”
Further details of the scheme will be announced in early May, with more information being provided on the DAERA website.