News
Livestock farmers in Northumberland and County Durham are being offered the chance to find out more about commercial farms that are working together to improve profits, reduce costs and reach new, premium markets.
A series of meetings later this month will offer farmers the chance to speak to English Food and Farming Partnerships’ (EFFP) new regional manager, Sue Scott, and to other specialists on business collaboration about opportunities to become more efficient and maximise their returns.
Sue – whose post is funded by regional development agency One North East – was appointed in October 2007 to provide dedicated business support to groups of farmers who want to work together to improve their profitability and sustainability, and to existing farmer-controlled businesses across North East England. She is also working to build local supply chains around non-food crops to maximise the opportunities for those farmers in the region.
The ‘Share to Rear, Share to Farm’ meetings in Wooler, Crook, Morpeth, Alnwick, Chollerford and Eggleston have been organised by EFFP to help sheep and beef farmers seize new opportunities and to respond to the challenges presented by mounting cost pressures, the impact of disease threat and reduced market prices.
Sue said: “Although beef prices have rallied recently there is still tremendous financial pressure on livestock farmers, particularly on those holdings where there is no production alternative. We plan to look at some of the practical ways to reduce costs and the opportunities to attract premium prices for farm output by working together – we’ll be showing recent video clips of farmers who are making this work for them and they will be there in person to answer questions and generate discussion. They are real commercial cases where farmers are making it happen.
“The evenings are free and will give farmers a chance to speak to specialists and North East farmers who are running real commercial enterprises where this type of collaboration is happening to good effect – so come along and take advantage of a really valuable pool of information.”
Frances Rowe, One North East Rural and Environment Manager, said: “These meetings are an extra resource for farmers to explore new ways to work together more closely and to develop their links with suppliers, new customers and retailers, and we’re pleased to be supporting them.
“Of course, as in any sector of industry, farmers are looking for new ways to maximise efficiency and productivity and to access new markets for their produce, and this has never been more important.”
The ‘Share to Rear, Share to Farm’ meetings will also cover investment priorities for the new Rural Development Programme for England. One North East is managing the socio-economic parts of the programme, which is just getting underway in the region.
The dates and venues for the presentations, which all start at 7pm, are:
Tuesday 19 February
Tankerville Arms Hotel, Wooler, NE71 6AD
Wednesday 20 February
Helme Park Hall Hotel, Fir Tree,
Crook, DL13 4NW
Thursday 21 February
Kirkharle Courtyard, Kirkharle,
Morpeth, NE19 2PE
Tuesday 26 February
White Swan Hotel, Alnwick, NE66 1TD
Thursday 28 February
George Hotel, Chollerford, NE46 4EW
Tuesday 4 March
Moorcock Inn, Eggleston,
Teesdale, DL12 0AU
To find out more or for booking arrangements, contact Sue Scott on 01388 835948, email sue.scott@effp.com, or visit www.sharetofarm.com
Ends.
Notes to Editors.
EFFP is a national, not-for-profit member organisation whose aim is to make collaboration work through the growth of market-focused and professionally-run farmer controlled businesses. It develops co-operation and partnership activities – not only between farmers but also between farmers and supply chains.
For more information on English Farming and Food Partnerships, contact Sarah Moffatt on 02072130431 or email smoffatt@effp.co.uk
For more information, contact Claire Mason (press office) on 0191 229 6429 / 07765220755 or email Claire.mason@onenortheast.co.uk
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