To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what support his Department is providing to help farmers prepare their farms for winter.

To help farmers prepare for the winter, my Department on an ongoing basis provides practical advice and information on a range of topics. These include fodder budgeting, preparing cattle for housing, slurry management and preparing for extremes of weather. The information is published on the DAERA website, agriculture press and also discussed at Business Development Group meetings and webinar events. An example of this are the monthly management notes prepared by CAFRE which appear in local press and are available on the CAFRE website under monthly news. In addition, poultry farmers and bird keepers have been reminded about the threat of Avian Influenza from migrating birds at this time.

Along with Health Minister Robin Swann, I recently launched Rural Support’s Winter Programme that aims to help farmers deal with the pressures of farming throughout the winter months, to remain resilient, to keep their farm sustainable and aid positive physical and mental health. The programme addresses topics and issues identified through an extensive survey of farmers and farm workers carried out by Rural Support, and I would urge the farming community to actively engage in order to help increase their capacity to deal with these pressures.

In the coming weeks, messages on winter preparedness will be reinforced with further information and publications in the media related to managing drinking water infrastructure on the farm, and animal welfare considerations in severe weather conditions.