The Dairy Council for Northern Ireland’s 2027 manifesto is calling on the incoming Executive to deliver a coordinated programme of support for local dairy farmers, processors and the wider agrifood supply chain.
Entitled 'A Pathway to Success', the manifesto sets out the action needed to strengthen the sector's competitiveness, support sustainable investment, and provide greater certainty for businesses across the province.
Launching the manifesto, Dairy Council Chief Executive Ian Stevenson said it identifies four key priorities for the incoming Executive: capital grant funding; a planning system fit for the future; a sustainable circular economy; and a pathway to success.
The Dairy Council represents dairy farmers and processors across Northern Ireland, together accounting for more than 90% of milk produced and processed locally.
Northern Ireland's dairy produce is consumed in more than 80 countries, with local dairy exports accounting for over 43% of all NI food and drink export sales outside the UK.
Commenting on the launch of the manifesto, Ian Stevenson said,
"The dairy sector is a major contributor to the economy of Northern Ireland generating close to £2bn of annual sales revenue with over 3,000 farming families and 2,300 processor employees directly engaged in the sector.
Our sector is renowned for the quality of milk that is produced all year round on farms throughout Northern Ireland and the dairy products that are made from that milk are valued by customers in every market that our processors supply.
As a sector, we cannot afford to stand still so we will continue to need deploying cutting-edge innovations and technology along the value chain and we would encourage our MLAs and Executive Ministers to encourage and support the sustainable development of one of our most important domestic industries in Northern Ireland”.
Read the full manifesto here.
Pictured: Dairy Council for Northern Ireland Chair Ivor Broomfield (left) and CEO Ian Stevenson launch the Dairy Council’s new manifesto “A Pathway to Success” outside Stormont.