To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) what steps he is taking to ensure that increasing profits made by major supermarket retailers are reflected in the prices paid to Northern Ireland farmers; and (ii) for his assessment of the current economic situation of family-owned farms.

The regulation of contractual relationships, and other related competition issues (e.g. pricing) is a reserved matter. The UK government has been undertaking a series of reviews to help improve transparency and fairness in agreements between UK buyers and farmers and Defra has recently introduced new legislation to mandate minimum contractual terms in the UK dairy sector. My department will continue to work closely with Defra, and with the Scottish and Welsh governments, as this supply chain work progresses.

The economic situation of family-owned farms will be shown within my Departments ‘NI Agricultural Incomes 2023’ release which is due to be published soon.