Farmers want more levy money spent on promoting the benefits of their produce
UK - Defra has published the results of a nationwide survey to find out what farmers think of the levy boards and what they would like to see happen in the future.
5 February 2007
2 minute read
The five existing levy bodies (the British Potato Council, the Meat and Livestock Commission, the Milk Development Council, the Horticultural Development Council and the Home-Grown Cereals Authority) will be replaced by one statutory levy board and six sector companies on 1 April 2008.
The survey results will be used to inform decisions on the future activities of these new bodies.
The survey shows that levy payers are keen to see more support channelled into the provision of information about the health and nutritional benefits of their produce in order to better promote it.
They also want to see the new arrangements have an impact on their bottom line, both in terms of increased profitability and in terms of reducing their cost base.
A common complaint about the existing levy boards is that they spend too much time in activities associated with farm assurance schemes (view FW's Food for Thought blog for futher comment).
Source: Farmers Weekly
