NORTHERN IRELAND'S farmers have welcomed the resumption of the province's power-sharing administration at Stormont – and called for legislation guaranteeing fair farmgate prices to be top of its agenda.

Farmers For Action organiser William Taylor said: “If NI farmers had downed tools for a fraction of the time that Stormont’s politicians have done, there would be a lot of hungry people and food prices would be a lot higher

"However, as we know it is not in farming families' psyche to down tools across the board, but that should not mean a lack of fairness on farm gate prices.

"Therefore, now that Stormont is finally back to work, this is top priority for NI Farm Groups – work is now in top gear to start the process of having our 'oven-ready' Bill for legislation on farmgate prices find its way into Stormont and start its process into law," said Mr Taylor.

FFA pointed out that, during the years of Stormont deadlock, many good family farmers had found themselves going further into debt to keep pace with the bills, never mind re-investment and profit.

The province's politicians must recognise the 'serious crossroads' that family farmers across the world are facing, with millions of acres of productive farm land and crops currently being lost in Australia, the Philippines, Brazil and many other places through climate change, the industry needed legislation on farmgate prices immediately to have a future and play their part in the climate change battle.

"Responsible politicians can no longer tolerate farming families in their care not being properly paid for their produce as pressure on food supplies around the world are mounting by the day," said Mr Taylor. "FFA are clear that if starting immediately in Northern Ireland the Legislation Bill were to go through Stormont as soon as possible, then going forward our family farmers would be financially fit to play their part in modernising their production methods at every opportunity to keep the people fed with everything that climate change looks set to throw at us."