Mr Burns: I share the concerns expressed by most other Members. This is a unique situation; oil prices in the world market are going through the roof, and the price of heating oil is unsustainable. We will have to use our agricultural land to produce fuel for heating.

Those of us on the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development know that the red meat industry is going through a difficult period. Farming is based on economics, and we cannot expect farmers to produce food for no money. If farmers discover that huge profits can be made by growing grain, they will cease to keep cattle and sheep, and the sight that we traditionally associate with the countryside — farm animals in fields — will disappear, because farmers will simply grow crops for the biofuel industry. That would be a very sad road for our agricultural industry to take. Instead of a food-production industry, it would, in essence, become a biofuel industry that produces fuel for home heating, and to power cars and public transport.

It would be a great waste if the grain that could be produced and that should be milled for bread to feed people went instead into some form of fuel. That would be a great waste of the land.

However, our Minister has no control whatsoever over the price of oil. Does she have any control over what farmers decide to do with their land? Perhaps it is the case that a big business bank manager comes to talk to the farmer after he has lost so much money, to suggest that there is more money in growing crops, and offering a loan for growing crops but no more money for animals.

This is a serious situation in which the entire agriculture industry finds itself. Also, it is not just a problem facing us here: it is worldwide. I am keen to hear suggestions as to how the Minister and the Assembly are going to tackle the problem. I support the motion.