OpenLobby.EU
Explore

Ulster Farmers' Union

UFU

Promote and protect the interests of our members by influencing government, the supply chain and consumers in order to secure a sustainable future for Northern Irish agriculture

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Luiza Bara (Head of Unit Secretariat-General) and Confederation of British Industry and

2 Dec 2025 · EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement – Regular engagement of the co-chairs of the Specialised Committee on the implementation of the Windsor Framework with Northern Ireland business stakeholders

Meeting with Jan Hendrik Dopheide (Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič) and British Agriculture Bureau and National Farmers Union

19 Jun 2025 · Engagement with UK farmers’ unions following the political announcement towards an EU-UK SPS Agreement

Meeting with Luiza Bara (Head of Unit Secretariat-General) and British Agriculture Bureau and National Farmers Union

19 Jun 2025 · Engagement with UK farmers’ unions following the political announcement towards an EU-UK SPS Agreement

Meeting with Luiza Bara (Head of Unit Secretariat-General) and Confederation of British Industry and

5 Jun 2025 · EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement – Regular engagement of the co-chairs of the Specialised Committee on the implementation of the Windsor Framework. with Northern Ireland business stakeholders

Meeting with Luiza Bara (Head of Unit Secretariat-General) and Confederation of British Industry and

5 Mar 2025 · EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement – Regular engagement of the co-chairs of the Specialised Committee on the implementation of the Windsor Framework. with Northern Ireland business stakeholders

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament) and British Agriculture Bureau

19 Feb 2025 · EU-UK agriculture & trade relations

Meeting with Ciaran Mullooly (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Sept 2024 · Agricultural issues

Meeting with Patricia Reilly (Cabinet of Commissioner Mairead Mcguinness)

4 Oct 2023 · The Ulster Farmers’ Union provided us with an overview of the agricultural aspects of the Windsor Framework, what has been resolved and ongoing issues that remain.

Meeting with Chris Macmanus (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Apr 2023 · Challenges for farmers post-Brexit

Meeting with Chris Macmanus (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Feb 2023 · Protocol/Agriculture (Staff level meeting)

Meeting with Barry Andrews (Member of the European Parliament)

19 May 2022 · NI Protocol

Meeting with Chris Macmanus (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Apr 2022 · Issues facing farmers in Ulster

Meeting with Miguel Ceballos Baron (Cabinet of Vice-President Cecilia Malmström) and Logistics UK and

3 Sept 2019 · Mercosur

Response to Changes to greening rules and clarifications of certain other direct payments' rules

12 Jan 2017

As a first comment we are very disappointed that despite Member States (MS) submitting simplification proposals in early 2015 and public consultation early in 2016 that farmers are unlikely to see meaningful simplification until 2018. The Greening rules are complex yet important information was lacking in the original legislation e.g. on the minimum length of the fallow period. We welcome inclusion of clearer rules. We also welcome the intention to simplify rules applying to individual Ecological Focus Area (EFA) options and to allow MS to amend the choices previously notified. We are however very disappointed that MS are not obliged to offer more options to farmers, nor to eliminate their add-on rules which have added complexity and produced inequalities across the EU. Similarly the amendments do not require MS to take up options that would provide simplification, e.g. the conversion factors for certain EFA options such as Buffer Strips. The difficulties experienced by MS administering their Basic and Greening Payment schemes and the lateness of the changes in the CAP cycle will encourage many to opt out of making changes that would be helpful for farmers, and beneficial for the environment. On specifics: We welcome the changes simplification of rules on specific EFA options but on Buffer Strip/Field Margins allowing grazing should be compulsory for MS. Our experience has been that because of the difficulty in preventing their animals from straying from field to Buffer Strip sheep farmers have not used that option, despite its value providing wildlife corridors. Replacing the latest planting date for green cover/catch crops with a minimum maintenance period is welcome as is allowing mixes of undersown grass and legumes. Few Northern Ireland farmers could guarantee to have harvested and re-planted by 1 October and a normal practice is to plant grass/clover mixes. are disappointed though that the requirement for catch crops to be a mixture is retained. This precludes some useful options such as growing a catch crop such as mustard as a biofumigant against PCN. Allowing mixes of Nitrogen Fixing Crops (NFC) with other crops, thus allowing lupins plus triticale, is useful. Logically, mixes of two or more species of NFC should also be allowed. Although some clarity has been added to the meaning of agricultural production more would have been helpful, e.g. specifying that maintenance tasks, such as to drains, or occasional driving over fallow does not constitute production. Those are examples of the conflict between EFA rules with the general requirement for farmers to maintain their land in good agricultural condition. The proposed ban on the use of Plant Protection Products on most EFA does the opposite. The experience in Northern Ireland where rules on PPP use on fallow have been tight has been significant weed problems on the fallow and neighbouring fields. Farmers have had to use more PPP on the Fallow after the fallow period and on neighbouring cropped fields. A ban on use of PPP on productive forms of EFA is not simplification, is wrong-minded and does not fit into the context of this legislation. It is clearly intended to cause farmers to select other EFA options rather than NFC. Although EFA is intended as a biodiversity measure NFC were included as an option for wider environmental reasons. Replacing imported protein by EU grown crops reduces indirect land use change in third countries facing serious loss of species. EU grown protein also brings climate change benefits (less nitrate fertiliser, less transport) and climate change presents perhaps the greatest challenge to biodiversity. Farmers cannot economically grow NFC without PPP. Indirectly discouraging green cover crops will mean more nitrate leaching.
Read full response