Farmers, growers and the food industry need to “step up” to address weak productivity growth and become more competitive as they prepare for Brexit.
That was the rallying cry from Jane King, chief executive of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), in a fringe meeting on the eve of the Oxford Farming Conference on 5 January.
King called on the industry to work together more closely in an effort to increase productivity and competitiveness as it moves towards a post-EU landscape.
She said:“Our new strategy is about inspiring success in a rapidly-changing world. The importance of AHDB’s work is greater now than ever. This is why we have changed the way we work and brought out our new strategy that puts competitiveness and productivity squarely at the heart of what we do.
“I am challenging the industry now to work more closely with us. This is not only because we can achieve so much more by working together, but also because it’s essential to addressing the challenge of weak productivity growth. We need to join up more to deliver world-class innovation, skills and knowledge exchange.'
At the meeting King also outlined recent changes at the AHDB, some of which were informed by last year’s activity review, as well as highlighting how its work has been refocused in its new strategy and showcasing some of its upcoming projects for 2017.
Focusing on tools for farmers, Jane spoke about an innovative project called Farmbench, which will be going live this month. It is a whole farm approach to recording and benchmarking that is not limited to any one specific enterprise on the farm.
Farmbench lists and records processes day-to-day, helping farmers and growers capture data. This allows them to monitor costs of production and benchmark performance as a business.
“This is the start of a big focus on trying to get farmers and growers more motivated about recording costs and record keeping,” King said. “We need to develop a greater culture of business in farming.”
You can find out more about the AHDB strategy, which is out for consultation until January 9, here.
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