Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent commoners with grazing rights in perpetuity will benefit from the Environmental Land Management Schemes.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are designing the Environmental Land Management schemes so farmers on common land can take part in the schemes in a straightforward and positive way.
We have already designed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) so that eligible single entities can apply for an agreement on common land, as well as making an additional payment available to help with the costs of administering an agreement if there is a group of two or more people on the common.
Commoners will also be eligible for the annual SFI management payment, which will pay £20 per hectare for up to the first 50 hectares entered into the scheme, resulting in a payment of up to £1,000 per year.
Alongside SFI, there are multiple actions available in Countryside Stewardship that are applicable to commoners, as well as payment to support the administration of agreements involving shared grazing on common land. Common land is also eligible for entry into the Landscape Recovery scheme, and applications are currently being accepted for round two.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm businesses are participating in Environmental Land Management scheme programmes in each (a) constituency, (b) local authority and (c) region.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of 21 June 2023, there were 42,708 farm businesses participating in Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes across England, constituting the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes.
In addition to these, there are 2,448 approved projects taking part in the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme and a further 22 projects that were selected in the first round of the Landscape Recovery scheme.
Details of participation in the ELM schemes at a constituency and regional level area are provided in the attached annex. We do not hold data at a local authority level.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) Natural Resources Wales on their guidance to local authorities on river pollution.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote phosphate stripping technology as a means of reducing the levels of phosphate in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department are taking to tackle phosphate pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Welsh government on tackling phosphate pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) the Environment Agency and (b) Natural England are reducing phosphate pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Welsh Government on tackling pollution in the River Wye.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Tackling pollution, including phosphorous pollution, is a priority for this government, and we are working closely with the Welsh Government to ensure that this is effectively addressed in the Wye Valley.
On 30th May the Secretary of State visited Hereford to discuss the River Wye at a roundtable with Hereford Council, the Welsh Government, local environmental groups and farming representatives. She agreed to consider how national policies and closer co-operation with the Welsh Government could better help local partners to restore the river.
The Government’s Plan for Water sets out a range of support to farmers, including those in the Wye, to help them transition to more sustainable agriculture and reduce their pollution. This support includes more than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure to £34 million nationally through our grant scheme to help prevent unnecessary spreading, of which £1.2m has been allocated to farms in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. We intend to adapt the grant offer over time to ensure that any public funding for better manure management supports adoption of storage, processing, and application of manures to aid their responsible management. The offer will also look to promote uptake of innovative treatments that can produce fertilisers from organic materials (including phosphate stripping technology) and circular use of slurry, such as fugitive gas capture for energy and fuel. In addition, our farming schemes are paying farmers for actions that protect our rivers and reduce run off, helping strengthen their role as stewards of the British countryside and rewarding them for work to look after our environment now, and in the long-term.
The Environment Agency (EA) is prioritising actions in the River Wye catchment. Around 70% of the excess phosphate comes from agricultural sources and one of the EA’s major focuses has been helping farmers better understand their impacts. We are funding extra Environment Agency (EA) inspectors to visit farms with 80 new officers in place and a significant increase in annual inspections in England to 4,000. The EA has prioritised this funding to focus on high-risk catchments including the Wye.
We have doubled the funding for the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) advice programme. This helps farmers reduce water and air pollution through free one to one advice. Approximately fifty per cent of Natural England (NE)’s CSF resource is targeted in the Wye, giving advice to farmers about appropriate manure management and steps to reduce diffuse pollution through options like Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid-tier.
The EA and NE also work in partnership with other partners across the entire Wye catchment. This includes working with communities through a Citizen Science programme, with Avara foods, and others in the food supply chain to find more opportunities for nutrient reduction, and with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water are already investing in a number of wastewater treatment works in the Wye catchment to reduce nutrient loads in wastewater by 2025. This includes work to add phosphate strippers and integrated wetlands to wastewater treatment works to reduce the levels of phosphorus in wastewater.
Welsh Government guidance to local authorities is a devolved matter for the Welsh Government, but statutory agencies and other organisations are part of a Nutrient Management Board (NMB) that come together to provide oversight and direction to all involved to drive actions to improve water quality in the Wye catchment. Such oversight is critical given the complexity of the issues and how they are all interlink. NE, EA and NRW and other partners are also part of five technical advisory groups for the Wye covering evidence, farm advice, regulation, poultry, and projects and innovation.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen the long-term (1) resilience, and (2) sustainability, of the agricultural sector in the UK.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As agriculture is a devolved matter, the resilience and sustainability of the agricultural sector in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are matters for their respective devolved administrations.
In England, the Government has taken a number of steps to strengthen the long-term resilience and sustainability of the agricultural sector. We are offering ongoing payments and one-off grants to improve farm productivity, benefit the environment and support sustainable food production. We have already seen the number of agreements in Countryside Stewardship increase by 94 per cent since 2020 and now almost one third of farm holdings are in an agri-environmental scheme. Landscape Recovery was also hugely oversubscribed, with all projects involving farmers including tenants, and we opened applications to the next round of farmers and land managers on 18 May 2023. The Sustainable Farming Incentive will open with a new and improved, expanded offer later in summer 2023. Many farmers have also already applied for £168 million of grant funding available this year to support investments in productivity, animal health and welfare and the environment. Farmers affected by the phasing out of Direct Payments can also receive free business advice and support through the Future Farming Resilience Fund.
Furthermore, at our recent UK Farm to Fork Summit we announced:
A further £12.5 million is being made available in May to support research projects that will support environmental sustainability and resilience on farms
Additional investment of up to around £30 million to unlock the potential of precision breeding
A working group to bring plant breeders, food manufacturers and retailers together to agree an approach that enables these products to reach our shelves.
Beyond this, we have invested £8 million in research through our crop Genetic Improvement Networks over the last five years to improve UK food security and environmental outcomes. We will build upon this through substantial additional investment to unlock the potential of precision breeding, following royal assent for the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act.
We have also launched three farming innovation competitions since January this year, providing a total of £21.5 million of funding. These measures will enable our future food and farming sector to be more productive and resilient thanks to British science and innovation.
We will continue to work closely with the Food and Drink Sector Council, which brings together leaders across the whole of the agri-food chain and across government, on the issues that it plans to focus on for the next year including: the future of food; sustainability; workforce challenges; and supply resilience.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help protect rare breeds of native farm animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To support native breeds, Defra publishes the UK National Breed Inventory annually to help monitor populations of pedigree livestock, including native breeds. For breeders in England, support for native breeds is available under the SP8: Native Breeds at Risk Supplement, which can be accessed through the Countryside Stewardship scheme.
Defra has also published guidelines on contingency planning in the event of an outbreak of a notifiable disease to identify eligible native breeds on the breed at risk (BAR) list, that may be exempt from culling.
The Department recognises the important role local abattoirs play in supporting native breed farmers and the wider rural economy. We are very much committed to engaging with the smaller abattoir sector to maintain a robust and competitive industry. At the National Farmers Union Conference in February, I announced the Government’s intention to launch capital grant funding to support smaller abattoirs. I will shortly be holding a round table with experts from the native breeds community to explore how we can support this valuable resource.