New director for Dairy UK Northern Ireland

Dairy UK’s new Northern Ireland (NI) director, Dr Mike Johnston​, said today he would make the high cost of environmental compliance for dairy companies one of the key priorities in his new role.

Johnston, who succeeds Paul Archer on April 1, said: “Dairy UK and its members across Great Britain and Northern Ireland are strongly committed to further improvements in their environmental performance. But, as with many areas of public policy, the cost of compliance and the burden of red tape is a major concern. We need both clear guidelines and uniformity in their application across the UK. At the minute we have neither.”

The threat of Bluetongue is also near the top of the Dairy UK agenda in Northern Ireland. Johnston will keep up close contact with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to monitor developments and keep NI members informed.