A combination of BSE, the strength of sterling and growing competition in the beef and pig sector have made the first two months of Ms Brid Rodgers' tenure as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development a baptism of fire.
The loss of 200 jobs at the Maldon bacon-slicing plant on Friday and yesterday's picketing of meat-processing plants in Northern Ireland by angry beef farmers were merely the latest examples of the crisis facing agriculture.
"It is very clear that the agricultural industry as a whole is going through the worst period ever, and particularly so in Northern Ireland," says Ms Rodgers.
On the issue of low cattle prices, she understands the frustration of farmers, she says. "But I would prefer to see an approach based on dialogue rather than confrontation. There are people who get caught up as the meat in the sandwich in this disagreement, who have no control over it - the ordinary workers."
If the crisis escalates, Ms Rodgers is willing to become involved in mediating talks between processors and farmers. However, she will not get involved in investigating allegations of price fixing from farmers.
"It is a commercial decision at the end of the day," she says, which can be brought to the Competitions Commission.
The BSE crisis has badly affected Northern Ireland beef farmers, who rely on exports to a greater extent than do their British counterparts. Ms Rodgers is hoping to persuade both the UK Government and the EU that Northern Ireland should qualify for a low-incidence BSE licence to enable international exports. This will continue to be an area of considerable political sensitivity, considering the ongoing French/British beef war, according to the Minister. However, if all goes well, she hopes to obtain a licence by this summer.
Although the agriculture sector accounts for 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product and 6 per cent of employment in Northern Ireland, it was no surprise that its portfolio was the final position to be filled within the new executive. Despite the fact that aggregate farm incomes in the North fell 57 per cent in 1998 (almost double the UK figure), there is little a minister can do to help farmers financially.
The issue of financial support for farmers is extremely complex. Strict regulations laid down by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) disallow direct aid to farmers and the Northern Ireland Executive's lack of cash-raising powers effectively stymies a minister's ability to respond to the crisis, according to Ms Rodgers.
Any extra financial assistance for Northern Irish farmers would require the sanction of Mr Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. "I think the chances of the British Government, who have agriculture pretty low on their list of priorities, giving money to agriculture rather than health are less than nil, and that's the reality we have to deal with," says Ms Rodgers.
A £100 million sterling (€164.72 million) loan initiative for farmers, aired by the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, two weeks ago without the knowledge of Ms Rodgers, has been dismissed by her Department and herself as unrealistic. "It runs contrary to EU regulations with regard to State aid," says Ms Rodgers.
DUP delegates on the agriculture committee have been vocal in their criticism of the Minister's handling of the current crisis.
"I have two Paisleys to contend with," says Ms Rodgers jokingly of the agriculture committee, of which the Rev Ian Paisley is chairman and his son, Ian Paisley jnr, is a member. "But I have to say it is very workmanlike. There's a bit of political point-scoring, but there isn't really any aggression or confrontation in it," she says.
Considering the complex network of financial constraints with regard to agriculture, the Minister is keen to stress the possibilities for cross-Border initiatives. "We have much more in common with the South in the area of agriculture because it is an area where farming is of huge political and economic significance, as opposed to England," she says.
At her first meeting with the Republic's Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, held before Christmas, a joint approach to animal health, training and education were considered and research into the possibility of developing pig-processing capacity on both sides of the Border was initiated.
Yet probably of most significance was the provision created for co-operation between both Ministers in relation to items affecting CAP policy. This should serve to strengthen Northern Ireland's bargaining position within the UK and Europe.
Developing a strategy for the future remains Ms Rodgers' primary goal. "I think it's not useful, helpful or practical to simply keep reacting from one crisis to another, because we have been hit by so many crises in recent years," says Ms Rodgers. She is currently setting up a steering group of agricultural experts to prepare a strategy for the period to 2006. It will include analysis of the challenges posed by the upcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations and EU enlargement. The group will report in late spring/early summer, and its findings will form the basis of Ms Rodgers' programme for government.
