NEWS

DUP Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart Friday 09 October 2026 DUP MP Carla Lockhart has called on Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir to act on new research into bovine tuberculosis (bTB), warning that farmers cannot continue to shoulder the financial and emotional burden of a disease which has affected Northern Ireland's cattle industry for decades. The Upper Bann MP has welcomed an independent evidence review by AgriSearch examining DAERA’s proposed wildlife intervention options, ar

Wednesday 07 October 2026 Northern Ireland is moving towards a major change in how puppies and kittens can be sold, with new rules designed to make it harder for puppy farms and irresponsible breeders to hide behind third-party dealers. Under proposals approved for Northern Ireland’s own version of Lucy’s Law, people buying a puppy or kitten will generally have to deal directly with the breeder and see the young animal with its mother at the place where it was bred. For puppi

Dr Konstantinos Xyntaris invites those with an interest in tree planting to attend the Growers Gathering at CAFRE this month at Greenmount Campus. Monday 05 October 2026 Tree growers, foresters and others involved in woodland creation across Northern Ireland are being invited to Greenmount Campus in Antrim for an industry event exploring the future of tree production and planting. The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) will host ‘A Growers’ Gathering fo

Hannah Martin, Sustainable Ruminant Genetics with dairy farmer Andrew McCollum, Ballycairn Farms discuss plans for Session 2 at the Dairy Conference 2026: Driving Profitability, Delivering Sustainability. Sunday 04 October 2026 Northern Ireland dairy farmers will be shown how genetic information can be turned into practical breeding decisions to improve herd performance, profitability and sustainability at a major industry conference in Antrim later this month. Dairy Conferen

UFU deputy president Clement Lynch, who is urging farmers to have their say on DAERA’s bTB wildlife intervention consultation. Saturday 03 October 2026 Northern Ireland farmers are being urged to have their say on the future of bovine TB controls before a major consultation closes next week, as the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) calls for wildlife intervention to form part of efforts to eradicate the disease. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) c

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir launches the second phase of the Lough Neagh Water Quality Dashboard in Ballyronan pictured with (L-R) Patrick Murphy, Lough Neagh Science Advice Branch, DAERA and Stephen Prentice, NIEA Freshwater Monitoring and Assessment. Saturday 03 October 2026 An expanded public monitoring system is giving communities and scientists a much clearer picture of conditions across Lough Neagh — as those working around the lake warn that years of sustained action wi

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir addressing the All-Ireland Sustainability Festival of Sustainable Impact Thursday 01 October 2026 Northern Ireland businesses that cut waste, use resources more efficiently and invest in innovation will be better placed to grow and attract investment, Environment Minister Andrew Muir has said. Speaking at a sustainability festival in Belfast, the DAERA Minister argued that environmental action was becoming central to business success, with implicati

Tuesday 29 September 2026 Farmers across Northern Ireland could receive support to restore wildlife habitats together under a new scheme planning to fund up to ten projects, each potentially involving up to 50 farmers and land managers. The Farming with Nature Landscape Projects Scheme will open for proposals on Monday 9 November, with applications closing at 5pm on Friday 4 December 2026. The aim is to connect and improve habitats across farm boundaries, tackling environment

Wednesday 16 September 2026 A Northern Ireland council has “strongly disagreed” with the proposed timetable for tougher air pollution limits, while councillors have raised concerns that additional costs could ultimately fall on ratepayers. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s Environment and Sustainability Committee has considered its response to a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) consultation on plans to tighten legal limits for harmful part

Wednesday 16 September 2026 Newly released government figures reveal 456 cattle were involved in 56 recorded operations by DAERA’s Humane Slaughter Team — putting the controversial destruction of 51 cattle near Fivemiletown into stark new context. The figures show the June operation, now at the centre of an independent external review, was one of the largest deployments contained in the records released by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. They als

Councils are set to receive stronger powers to tackle dangerous buildings, abandoned properties and neglected land after new Northern Ireland-wide legislation cleared its final Assembly stage. The Dilapidation Bill will allow councils, including Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, to intervene earlier and issue enforcement notices requiring property owners, occupiers or others with a relevant interest to carry out remedial work. Where a council is forced to undertake the wor

James Orr discusses genotyping with Senior CAFRE Beef and Sheep Adviser Rachel Megarrell. A Co Antrim father and son are using genetic testing to take some of the guesswork out of breeding decisions on their family farm — uncovering differences within their cattle that cannot necessarily be spotted simply by looking at them. James Orr farms alongside his father William near Ballintoy, where the family runs a suckler herd of around 100 cows, mainly Limousin-Simmental crosses a

Northern Ireland farmers will be able to use electronic identification tags for newborn cattle from Monday, 7 September — but adopting the technology will remain entirely voluntary. The electronic identification system, known as EID, is intended to make it faster and more accurate to identify animals and record cattle movements while reducing the need to read tag numbers manually. Farmers can continue using existing tags Herd keepers will be able to replace one of the two con

Albert and William Wallace discuss genotyping with CAFRE Dairy Adviser, Luke Murray. A Tobermore farming family whose dairy herd ranks among Northern Ireland’s highest-performing producers is highlighting how genetic testing can help farmers make more informed breeding decisions, ahead of a major government-backed genotyping scheme opening on Tuesday. Albert Wallace and his son William, who farm just outside Tobermore, have been using genotyping for six years to identify the

DUP Agriculture Spokesperson Carla Lockhart MP Serious whistleblowing allegations involving animal welfare, biosecurity and environmental practices at Northern Ireland’s Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) should be subjected to a genuinely independent examination, a DUP MP has said. Upper Bann MP and DUP Agriculture spokesperson Carla Lockhart has questioned whether investigations into concerns at AFBI’s Hillsborough site can command public confidence when the organis

Northern Ireland has no identified link to a rare case of classical BSE — commonly known as mad cow disease — confirmed on a farm in Scotland, Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has said. The case was discovered on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway and identified through routine BSE surveillance. Movement restrictions have now been put in place while investigations continue to establish the origin of the case. Importantly, the affected animal did not enter the human food chain, a

Pictured: DUP Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart and Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson Robbie Butler MLA, and the farmers protest earlier this week outside Stormont. Friday 14 August 2026 Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has rejected demands for his resignation and launched an extraordinary attack on the Ulster Farmers’ Union, declaring that its days of “dictating government policy are over”. His defiant response came after the UFU passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Muir,

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir The Ulster Farmers’ Union has declared that Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir and DAERA’s two most senior officials have lost the confidence of farmers—and demanded all three resign immediately. In a major escalation of the fallout from the Fivemiletown cattle operation, Northern Ireland’s largest farming organisation extended its vote of no confidence beyond the Department to Mr Muir, Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey and Chief Veterinary Of

The newly published terms of an independent review into DAERA’s controversial Fivemiletown cattle operation have come under immediate scrutiny over the reviewer’s powers, how the process was established and whether one reviewer is enough to command confidence. Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir published the detailed remit on Wednesday, 12 August, appointing former Irish Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Martin Blake to examine DAERA’s planning, decision-making and implementation of

Cattle that were shot by DAERA official lying in a County Fermanagh field; inset, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir Former Irish Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Martin Blake will independently examine DAERA’s planning, decision-making and handling of the controversial operation which saw 51 cattle destroyed near Fivemiletown in June. Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has published the terms of reference for an independent external review into his department’s implementation of a court De