Back in 2007, following the Radcliffe
Review, Defra launched a consultation on amalgamating the
different agricultural and horticultural levy boards into a single
entity to deliver better value for money and greater efficiency. The
majority of growers replied that they didn’t want the HDC
subsumed into such a behemoth.
How could an organisation which represented more than 300 crops,
but just a couple of hundred thousand hectares in area (compared
with four main crops and more than nine million ha covered by
HGCA) compete for resources? Not only that but unlike the other
levy bodies, HDC did not undertake marketing and promotional
activities and, according to Radcliffe, was already run in a very
efficient manner.
Despite the protests, horticulture’s levy funds were ring fenced and
the merger went ahead. The Agriculture & Horticulture
Development Board (AHDB) was created and the Horticultural
Development Council became the Horticultural Development
Company. Those growers who supported HDC (and there are several
who don’t agree with the levy system) looked on anxiously.
There was little noticeable change until three years ago when HDC
became AHDB Horticulture to better reflect the larger ‘corporate
identity.’ I you have attended an AHDB Horticulture or AHDB
Potatoes event over the last 12 months you might have noticed that
on publications and presentations, these names seem to be slowly
being replaced by a little plant logo.
At the start of April it was announced that AHDB’s Cereals and
Oilseeds and Potatoes Knowledge Exchange (KE) teams will unite to
create a single Arable Team. Some growers will see this as evidence
of the long term aims of AHDB to subsume all of its sectors into a
single corporate behemoth; others will be more pragmatic.
There is no doubt that AHDB has reduced admin costs, not only
allowing each levy area and sector board to concentrate on the
research (or marketing) that is important to them, but also freeing
up money to invest in knowledge transfer and communications. But
perhaps the biggest benefits have come from cross sector working,
with the best example being the GREATsoils project which, across
various work streams, has combined input and research from the
arable, potatoes and horticultural teams. This has also allowed
growers and researchers to look at rotations as a whole.
Few outdoor vegetable and salad crops are grown continuously, so
investigating the effects that different types of crop and cultivation
have on each other has to be a good thing. As farming faces up to
the challenges post-Brexit, provided horticulture is not sidelined, this
cross-sector approach would appear to be a positive development.
CONTENTS
AHDB teams unite
...............................................................................
4
New Leek Chairman
............................................................................
5
LEAF report launched
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7
BASIS training
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8
SPot Farm results
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11
Blight control
.......................................................................................
14
Crop insurance
....................................................................................
18
Brassica nutrition
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20
Advertisement feature
....................................................................
22
GreenHeadlands
...............................................................................
24
Classified
..................................................................................................
26
Buyers Guide
......................................................................................
27
3
OPINION
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