Northern Irish farmers are being encouraged to take part in a government survey aiming to identify the industry's future investment needs.
The Department of Agriculture (DAERA) is calling on farmers and growers to take part in the online survey, which has gone live today (27 October).
The ‘Attitude to Investment’ survey aims to gauge the readiness of farmers to invest in new capital equipment and infrastructure in the short to medium term.
It also seeks information on challenges and barriers across different sectors and sizes of farms.
Alison Chambers, DAERA’s director of agri-food development, said there were a number of challenges facing the industry, both in terms of farm productivity and environmental performance.
"It is essential that we have sound information to develop the shape of new support measures to help address these issues," she explained.
“The new Capital Investment Measures will help farm businesses to improve business efficiency and environmental performance.
"In particular, support will be focused on assisting the industry to meet net zero targets to incentivise investment in carbon reduction technology and to invest in equipment to support low carbon farming.”
The Capital Investment Measure is one of the measures in Northern Ireland's new Farm Support and Development programme.
It will aim to reduce the environmental impact of farming through adoption of precision technology and equipment to reduce ammonia emissions, carbon emissions, and nutrient loss.
In addition, it will seek to increase the resilience of farm businesses through increased efficiency, to help deal with the volatility of input costs and labour availability.
Ms Chambers added: "I would encourage all agricultural and horticultural producers in Northern Ireland to complete this survey.”
The survey is anonymous, with DAERA confirming that information gathered will only be used to inform the development of Capital Investment Measures.
The closing date for survey responses is Friday 17 November.
