Locals urged to ‘love lamb’ for local farmers

A CASTLEDERG representative with the the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) is urging local people to ‘love lamb’.

Kellie Rouse, the agri-food policy advisor for the UFU was speaking ahead of Love Lamb Week, which began last Thursday.

The week, supported by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), aims to spread awareness of lamb, and how supporting local producers will benefit both sheep farmers, and the wider economy.

Whilst all events associated with the week are based east of the Bann, Kellie would like to see a passion for lamb in her local area.

Speaking to this newspaper, Kelly explained, “Northern Ireland is a huge producer of lamb. Over 50 per-cent of the lamb we produce here goes abroad to the rest of the UK, Europe and the Asian market, so it’s clearly a quality product.

“However, closer to home we’re eating less lamb, and the point of Love Lamb week is to encourage that to change.”

She continued, “Australia and New Zealand might be the gold standard for lamb, but our own lamb from here is just as good, proved by having the farm quality assurance logo…

“It’s locally- sourced which not only helps the sheep farmers, but also assists the local supermarkets, because they can easily see where the meat has come from; cutting down on travelling and emissions costs.

“This, in turn, is a huge boost to the local economy. If it wasn’t for farmers there’d be no food in people’s fridges.”