Welcome for cuts to farming red tape

The executive says it is aiming to deliver a more competitive farming and food industry while cutting down on the amount of paperwork with which farming families have to deal.

The executive is accused of missing opportunities for farming

The promise to deliver a 25% reduction in agricultural bureaucracy by 2013 has been welcomed by the Ulster Farmers' Union which is questioning why it will take so long to reduce the administrative burden.

Farmers, too, have welcomed the emphasis on economic development, innovation and export growth - after all the farming and food industry is Northern Ireland's largest private sector employer providing jobs for 70,000 people.

The executive's scope to develop farming policy is, of course, limited by the European Common Agricultural Policy but the executive is aiming to help local farms become more competitive.

Ministers have earmarked £45m of the rural development budget to this end and hope that increased funding for research and development will help local livestock and arable farms gain an edge by having access to the latest science.