Farmers were right to challenge original nutrient plans, says AERA chair Robbie Butler

Northern Ireland farmers are being urged to engage with a major new consultation on future nutrient regulations, as political pressure grows on DAERA Minister Andrew Muir to prove the revised plans can actually be delivered on the ground.

The revised Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) for 2027-2030 has entered a 10-week public consultation period following nine months of negotiations involving farming organisations, environmental groups, the agri-food industry and government representatives.

The proposals are aimed at reducing nutrient pollution and improving water quality across Northern Ireland, including in Lough Neagh and other waterways, while supporting a productive and sustainable farming sector.

For farm families across County Antrim and the wider province, the outcome of the consultation could shape future rules on nutrient management, slurry handling, fertiliser use, environmental compliance and long-term farm investment.

Original plans faced strong farming opposition

UFU President John McLenaghan joined fellow members of the Stakeholder Task and Finish Group at the launch of the public consultation on the revised Nutrients Action Programme.

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has encouraged members to study the revised proposals and submit their views before the consultation closes.

UFU President John McLenaghan said the publication of the revised package marked the completion of a significant body of work involving stakeholders from across the agri-food and environmental sectors.

He said the original proposals, published in May 2025, “would have had severe consequences for many family farms across Northern Ireland if they had gone ahead in that form”.

The UFU said its representatives had been involved in meetings, sub-groups and negotiations throughout the process, working to remove measures it considered unworkable and secure more practical alternatives.

Mr McLenaghan said:

“Due to that work, the package now out for consultation is a significant improvement on last year’s. It is not perfect, no regulatory package ever is, but it is a world away from where we started.

“The most damaging proposals have been removed or rewritten, and the focus is now on workable, targeted and phased measures that keep farmers farming while delivering environmental improvements.”

Butler: farmers were right to challenge original NAP

Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson and Chair of the Stormont AERA Committee, Robbie Butler MLA

Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson and Chair of the Stormont AERA Committee, Robbie Butler MLA, has cautiously welcomed the revised programme, but said responsibility for delivering it now rests with Minister Muir.

Mr Butler said he had called a year ago for the original NAP consultation to be withdrawn, describing those proposals as “rushed, poorly evidenced and undeliverable”.

He said independent analysis commissioned by the Ulster Farmers’ Union had put the cost of the original proposals at more than £1.56 billion a year.

Mr Butler said:

“I argued then that farmers had to be partners, not passengers, and that real change could only come through co-design.

“That is exactly what this independently chaired stakeholder process has delivered, and I pay tribute to the UFU and every organisation that did the hard work.”

He said the revised programme had emerged against a difficult backdrop for the industry, including the UFU’s unprecedented vote of no confidence in Minister Muir’s department and further pressure on farm families from the Labour Government’s family farm tax.

“Trust between farmers, the department and government had reached rock bottom,” Mr Butler said.

“That is why this revised programme matters. It is the step forward that everyone, on all sides, badly needs.”

Delivery now becomes the central test

While the revised proposals have been described as more targeted and workable than the original version, Mr Butler warned that the consultation is “not the finish line”.

He said farmers must not be left to carry the burden alone, arguing that agriculture is only one source of Northern Ireland’s water quality problems.

Mr Butler said Northern Ireland Water, wastewater, septic tanks and industry must face the same urgency that has been demanded of farming.

He also warned that key elements of the package depend on government action, funding and infrastructure that are not yet in place at scale.

He said the target to cut phosphorus surplus depends on manure processing and export infrastructure, while the expansion of low-emission slurry equipment depends on proper funding through the Sustainable Farming Investment Scheme.

Mr Butler also said delivery of the programme is conditional on progress on ammonia policy and on unblocking a planning system that he said is holding back farm investment.

“Farmers cannot be held to targets they have no means of meeting,” he said.

“This is his programme to deliver, and the responsibility for getting it right sits with him.”

Minister says plans are based on science and evidence

Launching the consultation, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said the revised NAP is critical to securing a “thriving, resilient and environmentally sustainable future” for Northern Ireland’s agricultural sector.

He praised the work of the NAP Stakeholder Task and Finish Group and its independent chair, Karen Brosnan, saying the group had invested many hours in reaching an agreed solution.

Mr Muir said:

“I am pleased to now launch a public consultation on the Task and Finish Group’s NAP proposals and encourage everyone with an interest to read the proposals in full and take part in the public consultation.

“All measures have been carefully considered and are firmly embedded in science and evidence.”

The Minister said the majority of farmers are already taking positive steps to manage nutrients more efficiently and protect the environment.

However, he said improving water quality would require action beyond agriculture.

“If we are to address the issues at Lough Neagh and elsewhere, we need to tackle all sources of nutrient pollution,” Mr Muir said.

“I will not be found wanting in terms of regulation of wastewater, but we need collective endeavour across government to deliver good water quality.”

Economic impact assessment demanded

Mr Butler has called on DAERA to publish the economic impact assessment in full so farmers can understand what the revised measures will mean for their businesses.

He said where measures are to be reviewed after two years, farmers need certainty and support rather than the threat of tougher regulation “hanging over the industry like a cliff-edge”.

The Ulster Unionist Party said it will engage with stakeholders and industry to scrutinise the proposals in detail, with the aim of safeguarding both the agri-food sector and the environment.

Thousands of responses helped shape revised proposals

The revised package was shaped by approximately 3,400 responses received by DAERA during its 2025 public consultation on NAP.

Those responses were considered by the Stakeholder Task and Finish Group, which included representatives from the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, the Nature Friendly Farming Network, the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association, Northern Ireland Environment Link, the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association, the Northern Ireland Grain Trade Association, the Northern Ireland Meat Exporters Association, the Northern Ireland Pork and Bacon Forum, the Northern Ireland Poultry Industry Federation, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and DAERA.

The group was also supported by sub-groups intended to ensure the proposals were informed by scientific evidence, met legal obligations and remained workable at farm level.

Farmers urged to respond before September deadline

The UFU says it will now engage intensively with members across all sectors, providing guidance, hosting meetings and helping farmers understand the revised proposals.

The public consultation is open until 11.59pm on Monday, September 7, 2026.

Further information on the consultation and proposed measures is available at www.napfactsni.org.

The full consultation documents and proposals for the Nutrients Action Programme 2027-2030 can also be accessed at www.daera-ni.gov.uk/consultations/public-consultation-proposed-nutrients-action-programme-2027-2030.

Once the consultation responses have been considered, Minister Muir intends to seek Executive approval for the revised NAP proposals and complete the necessary Committee and Assembly processes so they can be implemented within the current mandate.

For farmers, the consultation now represents a critical opportunity to shape the rules before they are finalised — but the larger test will be whether government can provide the funding, infrastructure and policy certainty needed to make the revised programme work in practice.