A levy rate increase put forward by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) that will cover Cereals and Oilseed among livestock and dairy sectors has been approved by Defra Ministers and the Devolved Administrations.
See also: Agriculture input costs likely to remain high in 2024, AHDB warns
The Cereals and Oilseeds sector has seen no increase to the levy since the rate was last set in 2011. For some agricultural sectors such as Dairy and Pork, changes have not been seen for over 20 years as the spending power of the levy funds has gone down by 40% in the past 10 years.
- Cereal growers will receive 58p/tonne (t) of produce (up from 46p/t) while cereal buyers will get 4.8p/t (an increase on 3.8p/t).
- Both industrial and human cereal processors see a big increase to 12p/t (up from 9.5p/t), as do processors of cereal feed, getting 5.8p/t (up from 4.60p/t).
- Oilseed rates see a large increase to 94p/t (up from 75p/t).
AHDB chair Nicholas Saphir said that they are pleased that the proposals have been given the go-ahead, as it means that the levy can now go further to prioritise farmers across a multitude of agricultural sectors.
“The new rates will allow us to enhance our key activity whether, for example, that involves growing export opportunities or exploring further marketing campaigns in the Beef and Lamb, Dairy and Pork sectors as well as increasing our research offering to Cereals and Oilseeds producers,” he said.
“Levy payers can be assured that our commitment to helping them navigate through an unprecedented period of change for the industry is secure and we will continue to listen to their feedback to ensure we are delivering real value for money.”
The new rates will come into effect from April 2024 as part of the focus that AHDB has put on its focus of the objectives of their November 2022 sector plans. These include filling public knowledge gaps and offering practical solutions to rising input costs.
More details on their plans can be found here.
