Shake-up can give farming fresh start, says NFU chief

Apr 2 2008 by Tom Patterson, The Journal

NFU president Peter Kendall yesterday challenged the new Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to make a real difference to the industry.

He says the new board provides a real opportunity for a fresh start in tackling the challenges facing farmers and growers.

The AHDB, which came into being yesterday, replaces the five statutory levy boards.

The single statutory board comes with six sector companies representing beef and lamb, pigs, milk, cereals and oilseeds, potatoes and horticulture.

Mr Kendall challenged the new board to make a real difference for its farmer and grower levy payers.

He said: “The new AHDB has the opportunity to make a fresh start in responding to the many demands and challenges that lie ahead for farmers and growers in a rapidly changing global market, and it must deliver on that.

“We have been calling for the board to make sure that the new structure enables continued focus on the needs of the individual sectors.

“It should also drive much better opportunities for synergy and efficiency savings where there is a mutual benefit for levy payers in different sectors.

“Each levy body will, of course, have its money ring-fenced and so the future for each sector will be determined by its own levy body.

“However, over time, we hope the six sector companies will join up their thinking on issues such as research and development, technological transfer, market intelligence and even on promotion.

“Such collaborative thinking must not, of course, ever compromise the rights of sectors to manage their own affairs.”