Less than a week into the job the new Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Martin Heydon, has told Agriland that he has a number of key priorities and “nitrates is one of the biggest ones” as is CAP reform. He firmly believes the nitrates derogation is “absolutely critical” to the rural economy in Ireland but that the EU Mercosur trade deal is “wrong on a number of different levels”. According to Minister Heydon “farming is my DNA – it’s who I am”.