NEWS RELEASE – Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board 1 November 2012 NEW £1M ANIMAL WELFARE GRANT BOOSTS INDUSTRY SKILLS FOCUS Just over £1m of new money is to be invested across the country in enhanced skills training on animal health and welfare, thanks to a successful funding bid under Defra’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has secured a £315,000 boost to its drive to develop skills in general animal health and welfare, with an additional £550,000 to further develop training and awareness in the fight to control endemic disease, with a special focus on Bovine Diarrhoea (BVD) and Scab. This additional investment (supplemented by industry match funding) was won under the new Skills Framework funding of the RDPE, which is jointly funded by Defra and the European Union. As project leader, AHDB will work with a contract team to train advisers, vets, trading standards officers, livestock auctioneers, feed and pharmaceutical representatives, as well as livestock farmers. The target is to upskill 2,000 or more in animal health and welfare for farm livestock and at least 8,000 on BVD and Scab in the cattle and sheep industries. Both programmes will begin this month and run until March 2014. Experienced technical experts from AHDB’s livestock divisions – covering cattle and sheep, dairy herds and pigs – will team up with animal specialists at ADAS and XLVets to deliver the training events. Training on other areas, in particular poultry, deer and rabbits, will be outsourced to relevant industry specialists. “This award is a real boost for all our livestock sectors because it will bring yet more high value, cost-effective training to a broad range of people working in our industry, further improving animal health and welfare and, consequently, helping to make a large proportion of our agri-businesses more competitive,” said AHDB External Skills Project Manager Tess Howe. “AHDB has put together an added-value animal health and welfare programme that builds on our commitment to deliver the type of training those working in the industry say they most need – this extra funding is vital because it will help agri-businesses move further forward in caring for their livestock and looking after the bottom-line.” AHDB Chief Executive Tom Taylor welcomed the grant and its boost to industry competitiveness and sustainability: “As with all industries, there is a constant need in agriculture to develop new skills to help keep pace with change and innovation. This injection of new money will help us train more people more quickly than would otherwise have been possible.” ENDS A photo is available of AHDB Chairman John Godfrey (right) with farming minister David Heath during the minister’s visit to Stoneleigh Park, last month, to discuss AHDB’s cross-sector skills strategy. Notes to editors 1. The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is an evidence-based levy board with a pivotal role to make the industry sectors it supports more competitive and sustainable. It undertakes research and development (R&D) and farm-level knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge exchange (KE) activity. It also provides essential market information to improve supply chain transparency, delivers marketing promotion activities to help stimulate demand and also works to maintain and develop export markets. AHDB is funded by the agriculture and horticulture industries through statutory levies. It works to support the sectors of meat and livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) in England; horticulture, milk and potatoes in Great Britain; cereals and oilseeds in the UK - in all, it represents about 75% of total UK agricultural output. The responsibility for setting strategic priorities and recommending levy rates is delegated to the advisory boards (comprised of levy payers and industry representatives) of its six sector divisions – BPEX, EBLEX, DairyCo, HGCA, HDC and Potato Council. 2. AHDB’s involvement in similar livestock training projects includes its Pig Health Improvement Project, DairyCo’s Mastitis Control Plan and Healthy Feet programme and the EBLEX Better Returns project. 3. There are six key areas (lots) to the new Skills Framework funding under Defra’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), backed by the European Union: - Business management, leadership and ICT skills for agriculture, horticulture and forestry Knowledge transfer, innovation and technical skills for agriculture, horticulture and forestry Agricultural animal health and welfare Marketing and supply chain efficiency for agriculture, horticulture and forestry Resource use efficiency in agriculture, horticulture and forestry Traditional rural skills and rural tourism. 4. This project is supported by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) for which Defra is the Managing Authority, part-funded (or financed) by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas. Twitter: @AHDB01 Media enquiries contact Jeremy Waterfield on 0247 6478890 or 0780 1418952 or jeremy.waterfield@ahdb.org.uk