Northumberland MP shares local farming concerns with ministers

The meeting with Baroness Hayman, Biosecurity and Animal Welfare Minister, came shortly after the discovery of bird flu on a poultry farm near Belford, with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) warning that, while restrictions have been put in place, cases may rise.

Mr Smith said: “The bird flu outbreak is worrying local farmers, as well as businesses which rely on tourism to the Farne Islands. No one wants a repeat of 2022/23 when over 9000 birds on the Farne Islands perished.

“Baroness Hayman heard the concerns, acknowledged how serious the situation is, and told me that she and Defra are working to make sure the restrictions do their job without having too serious an effect on other Belford businesses.”

He also took farmers’ concerns about the Sustainable Farming Incentive, the Government’s flagship agro-environmental subsidy scheme, to Farming Minister Stephen Morgan.

Minister Morgan has promised that future SFIs will not be first come first served, as it was in September.

Mr Smith said: “Local farmers have made it really clear to me what they want: subsidies that works for their time frames, reliable funding arrangements, and a computer system they can rely on.

“Minister Morgan heard these concerns from me, and has taken some steps already to create a better SFI system and to show farmers that the Government is on their side.”