AHDB - Levy

[The Ruminant]

Blimey. I just gave my opinion. I’ll let others reach their own conclusions. By the way, I don’t hide behind a user name. I’m Tom Chapman from Hertfordshire and I’m not a liar. I don’t suppose you’ll retract your comments, but again it’s no skin off my nose. I will let other forum users draw their own conclusions

PS I did

Well you are way off the mark if you think I am connected in any way shape or form with the new TFF member who started this thread but if you think I am then please ask the moderators to check it out and confirm that I am/ am not connected to the new user and ask them to post the outcome of the results on this thread because if you do that you will look a right plonker when they confirm I am not connected in any way to the new user.

Can you confirm either way that in your role as a consultant you have/ have never worked for the AHDB or any business that receives funding for them in the name of research??

i never mentioned a name. It’s your own paranoia that’s caused you to reply.

Just to humour you, I have never worked for AHDB or received funding from them, either directly or via a business I work for. I’m a simple peasant farmer as anyone who knows me will confirm. I also don’t hide behind a fake internet name.

 

[The Ruminant]

I will happily consult on mob grazing, which is my area of interest and experience.

 

[Suffolk Serf]

PS I did

i never mentioned a name. It’s your own paranoia that’s caused you to reply.

Just to humour you, I have never worked for AHDB or received funding from them, either directly or via a business I work for. I’m a simple peasant farmer as anyone who knows me will confirm. I also don’t hide behind a fake internet name.

Tom, you might be a peasant but you’re far from simple!

 

[JP1]

Tom, you might be a peasant but you’re far from simple!

I'd second that. Nice guy to boot

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I’m a simple peasant farmer and revolutionary

You forgot a bit.

You're welcome

 

[livestock 1]

Sector board chairman/ woman work an average of 3/4 days a week and get £45k ish a year, most AHDB staff are generally full time.

Peter Kendall gets about £55k a year for a 2 day week, spends most of his time trying to stop any advertising being carried out by the AHDB, you are thinking of Jayne King @whiterabbit who gets about £150k for heading the AHDB full time, how she got the job is beyond me as the only claim to fame she has is as an editor taking the very popular Farmers weekly mag and turning it into nothing better than a woman's weekly with falling sales.

As for this review, a complete waste of time, they spent tens of thousands of levy payers money 3/4 years ago doing the same type of review including holding meetings across the country, the over riding outcome of that was levy payers across all sectors told them they want a lot less money spent on R+D etc and a lot more money spent on advertising, suffice to say the AHDB believe that most levy payers money should be spent on R+D etc to help us produce more for less , ie so the farm gate price can be lowered by the supermarkets.

Irony of the above is that whilst the AHDB with their left hand are telling us to cut costs their right hand are busy drawing up/ supporting Eid tagging/ real time data uploads of inputs ( to help the buyers work out our Cop ) which will cost 90% of livestock farms thousands to comply with and suffice actually adding to our costs for no gain!

On the current advertising, they actually did go to this years game fair ( well the beef and lamb board told us back in Jan they were going there so I assume they did )

I think with brexit and the need to reduce costs then the AHDB and everything like Eid tagging of cattle/ sheep etc needs to be scrapped as none of it has/ will benefit farmers.

I agree the NZ competitors are having such a laugh at us livestock farmers being forced to pay into something so silly that tells us to cut costs for years then at the same time makes up new rules that cost us more money. Pretty much what you have said. Where is the advertising at? With our money ?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Question is are they going to look into/change sheep grading.?

 

[gone up the hill]

Question is are they going to look into/change sheep grading.?

Not sure on Lamb but they have been working on a new beef grading grid for some months, they were talking of trying to get it introduced later next year for a trial alongside the current grids.

 

[whiterabbit]

Don't seem to be getting much joy out of farmers guaurdian either keep promising to call back but never do looks like we will keep having 60million taken out of our industry for ever and a day still if the majority voted to get rid of them they would find a way to keep the gravy train on the track those of us who are old enough to remember the pmb will recall that when they had a vote to get rid of them they managed to keep it going by taking the acres instead of the growers wonder if we could get a party together and have a day down at their offices to see what they do all day then again maybe not might feel even more sick about my 21grand

 

[whiterabbit]

At last a half decent article in the vegetable farmer daring to criticise the ahdb I hope the editor is not hoping to retire to this club because I am afraid he has just blown it

 

[whiterabbit]

Did anyone go to elsoms open day last week what was the point of ahdb stand no one from ahdb there maybe they got trapped in the beer tent

 

[Bury the Trash]

You forgot a bit.

You're welcome

Is 'evolutionary ' perhaps a better word ......as 'revolutionary' makes him sound a a bit 'Wolfie Smith' like .

 

[Bestriding Spraak]

From what I gather from speaking to AHDB staff they believe that they should be doing a lot more of this type of thing as apparently it benefits farmers, when asked how they couldn't answer!

That’s because they are so far removed from how businesses run.
They have zero risk, Zero stress, great salaries, pension and all expenses paid by us Levy payers!
I was told some staff didn’t even know what AHDB meant which kind of proves their paid to talk rubbish!