Poots outlines future for NI agriculture to YFCU conference
The first of four webinars, making up the 2021 Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) Agri-Food Conference, saw Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots MLA outline his vision for the future of agriculture in Northern Ireland.
He said that he wanted to see an industry growing from a production point of view but also one that would have a sustainable base, from both an economic and environmental perspective. Having young people – men and women – working at the heart of the industry would also be important.
Edwin Poots added:
“Making this happen will require a support scheme that meets the specific needs of agriculture in Northern Ireland.
On 1 January 2020, the word coronavirus was one that few farmers were familiar with, but as the year unfolded, COVID-19 came to dominate our lives and our timelines.
Little wonder then, that there was huge interest in a laboratory study in Australia that a cattle wormer could potentially kill the wretched coronavirus.
University of Monash scientists showed that a single dose of the anti-parasitic drug can stop the virus growing in a cell culture within 48 hours.
At a time when the virus was raging around the world at speed, the news that a veterinary medicine could help in the fight against COVID-19 was of great interest.