NSA chief pledges strong voice at new levy board

Apr 3 2008 by Tom Patterson, The Journal

THE NATIONAL Sheep Association has welcomed the establishment of the new levy body – the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board.

The AHDB officially came into existence on Tuesday and has a key role to play in the sheep industry.

As an organisation focused entirely on the sheep industry, the ongoing work of the English Beef and Lamb Executive as the English red meat sector body within AHDB is the centre of attention for the NSA.

Red meat is unique amongst other commodities in respect of levies as it is the only commodity where devolution has come into play.

This means there are separate red meat sector bodies in England (EBLEX Ltd), Wales (HCC) and Scotland (QMS).

The activities of HCC and QMS do not fall under the umbrella of AHDB, whereas in all other sectors levy- funded activity across GB does fall under that one single umbrella.

NSA chief executive Peter Morris said: “The establishment of AHDB and its sector bodies marks a very important new era for agriculture across Great Britain.

“The NSA is extremely interested to ensure that the best interests of sheep farmers are represented and protected on the new levy bodies.

“The biggest changes for sheep farmers are being seen in England and NSA will be as strong a voice in ensuring the sheep farmers’ levy money is spent in the best interests of the sheep sector and nowhere else – whether that be on promotion, R&D or technology transfer.”

The NSA believes AHDB and EBLEX will undoubtedly come under intense pressure from many quarters to allocate sheep farmers’ levies to various projects and ideas.

Mr Morris added: “Some of these may be worthwhile and prove to be in the best interests of the sector and others may not be.

“This places a great onus on the board members and senior staff within the organisations to make the right choices for the sector they represent which will not always be easy. The NSA will be particularly keen to keep highlighting to the levy bodies one of the great strengths of the sheep industry which is its diversity.”

He added: “In respect of both marketplace opportunities or on farm improvements the fact that the sheep industry is not uniform to the same degree as many other sectors gives it great strength and the importance of that must not be overlooked when devising strategies and spending priorities.”