It is just over 100 years since the first combustion-engine tractor rolled into Irish fields. Imagine being a farmer at the time in Coleraine, Poyntzpass or Limavady and seeing history unfold before your eyes.

The changes since then would have been unimaginable to those pioneering farmers.

Thanks to their hard work, skill and the support of co-operatives, the Northern Ireland (NI) dairy industry is now admired globally.

While 100 years may feel like a long time, it is a speck in the ongoing evolution of food production.

In that time, NI’s dairy sector has made tremendous progress, especially when it comes to innovation.

It has been built on collaboration, community and a spirit of co-operation that makes us among the best. Built by farmers, for farmers. By neighbours, for neighbours.

Advancements made in the areas of genetics, breeding, feeding and animal husbandry on farms have been nothing short of outstanding.

Any scientific field would be envious of the steps farmers and their co-ops have made in such a short space of time.

This transformation has made dairy a central pillar of the NI economy. Today, 2,500 dairy farm families in NI care for 325,000 cows that produce 2.5bn litres of top-quality milk, used in 240 world-class products sold in over 100 markets. Lakeland Dairies, NI’s largest processor, supports over 2,500 jobs, and many more in businesses that supply our sector.

The importance of dairy to the NI economy is immense. With over £2bn in annual sales, it is one of our most vital and export-driven sectors.

Through their individual enterprises, farmers also help to support and maintain a balanced regional economy.

Environment

But just as vital as economic success, so too is environmental sustainability. Everything we do depends on clean water, biodiversity and a stable climate. No one understands this better than farmers who face climate impacts at first-hand every day. As a co-op and a sector, we are 100% committed to environmental progress. Lakeland Dairies’ Sustainability Incentive Payment supports farmers in real, measurable actions. Over 12,000 initiatives are already under way, delivering real benefits.

That’s why we and our 1,000 farm families were shocked by the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) consultation published by DAERA and Minister Muir.

We use the word “consultation” lightly, because the proposed window between its conclusion and implementation is just over six months. There is also a concerning lack of impact assessment for those most impacted by the proposed changes, the farmer.

To put that in perspective, the consultation period is two-thirds of a cow’s gestation, and yet a heifer born today won’t even produce milk for over two years.

That is to say farmers have made generations of careful breeding decisions to get here, and it is irrational and damaging to suggest they can turn their current status on its head in one fell swoop.

Timelines

We must grow sustainably, in harmony with nature and water. But the rigid timelines and proposals in the NAP risk undoing our progress.

Successive policies seem to be out of step with our shared vision for a better future.

We feel that these proposals do not take into account the positive actions our farmers, and those of the wider industry across NI, have taken in recent years.

Just as the first combustion-engine tractor marked a leap forward, we now face another turning point. But instead of promise, this time we face deep worry and uncertainty.

As we outlined in a letter to Minister Muir last week, the dairy industry of NI has succeeded not because of political policy, but in spite of it.

Unfortunately, it often feels as though we are farming and planning with blindfolds on, and one arm behind our back. What other industry sector would be asked to fundamentally change how it operates inside just a six-month period?

I still truly believe that dairying in NI can have a very exciting, sustainable and profitable future but it is critical that ministers and government work with the sector, not against us.

Lakeland Dairies unequivocally calls for greater levels of consultation and a more balanced approach to these NAP proposals, with longer lead-in times to ensure that we all meet our goals of profitable and sustainable family farms, living in vibrant rural communities, within a successful dairy sector and a clean environment.