NSA welcomes release of levy board’s future plans

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has welcomed the public release of the future operational intentions of levy board AHDB Beef & Lamb this week.

The sector plans for AHDB Beef & Lamb were published as part of a commitment to outline how the sectors’ levy payments will be invested over the next five years. The Sector Council stated it has refocused activities around three themes that support the overall reputation of the sector; Exports (market access, trade shows, international marketing), marketing (We Eat Balanced, education), and insight and evidence (market intelligence, animal health and welfare, environment, genetics).

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker comments: “I feel this is a confident, necessary, and brave statement by AHDB outlining its focus for beef and lamb in the forthcoming years. AHDB has clearly listened to the feedback from levy payers and their future direction aligns well with the views of our Association. NSA said the most important thing for the UK sheep sector was to invest and develop our marketplace. NSA also said that work to underpin and accentuate our reputation was crucial – those two work areas are completely intertwined and of course, we need ongoing market intelligence to understand trends and help farmers and processors make good decisions.”

Recognising that some difficult decisions may therefore lay ahead for the levy board Mr Stocker continues: “We cannot expect AHDB to focus more in certain areas, with a reduced financial resource, without stepping back in some areas. The answer again aligns with much of what NSA said in its response to the consultation on this matter, that more could be done in partnership and by bringing people and organisations together through a facilitated approach. AHDB now recognises that it's not the organisation’s role to tell farmers how to farm but more to enable farmers to make decisions that are right for them. NSA welcomes this new direction and the work done by the new Beef and Lamb sector Council. It’s the Council, under the leadership of its Chair Colin Bateman, that has set this new direction and we now await AHDB’s executives’ work as they work out exactly how to deliver and what this means in practice.”