Three months in and I have to say it has been such an amazing privilege to have been able to get under the skin of AHDB.
Circumstances mean that I’ve been down in the weeds more than a chair would normally be, but it’s helped me learn on the job.
I was born into farming in Norfolk and confess that even I had some misconceptions about AHDB prior to my appointment in June. But that said, it was an organisation I always believed in, and the early weeks of my three-year tenure have only served to reinforce that view.
It’s clear that part of my role is to champion and shout about all the positive things that the organisation does.
However, if I was to talk constantly about all the stuff AHDB is doing, I’d just be on broadcast mode. Listening to and understanding levy payers’ ever-changing needs is a key part of ensuring AHDB can deliver relevant knowledge and information to the industry.
So, the trick is being able to give levy payers all the details when they need them – and sometimes when they don’t even realise they need them.
For the pork sector, it’s about ensuring all producers and processors have access to information through an array of channels, whether it be the electronic Medicine Book for Pigs, the latest on markets and prices or our efforts to help avoid and minimise the spread of any potential notifiable disease.
Long-term work
I think one of the key challenges AHDB has always faced is that so much effort is put towards long-term work – things like export and market development. It takes time and doesn’t grab the headlines on a day-to-day basis, but it’s very much the belt and braces of what we do.
Recent notable examples include the deal to expand trade opportunities with Mexico to cover pork offal, as well as our biggest ever red meat inward trade mission, which gave overseas importers the full farm-to-fork experience here in the UK.
However, the teams at AHDB also need to have the capacity to deal with unexpected things that come in and warrant immediate attention on behalf of levy payers. On all counts, AHDB’s core purpose is to be the vehicle that enables industry collaboration and collective strength.
What I’m not here to fight for is a single version of any future of agriculture. Our customers need all parts of the food system to be good and getting better and, within that rich fabric, AHDB levy payers have different priorities and constraints that affect their choices.
Valued sector
But the common challenges are real, and that is where collaboration, such as on overseas market access, is essential. AHDB consistently works with and for levy payers, bringing the industry together for a common goal that all can benefit from.
For a while now, it has felt as if farming in Great Britain lacks purpose. After Brexit, we’ve been pushed from pillar to post on environmental targets and aspirations for our food system.
And it’s inescapable that climate change is making things difficult across the globe. If we could have some clear ambition for the industry, it would help everything else fall into place.
And I want to help make that change. I want agriculture to be valued as a growth sector. I want our industry to be contributing on all levels, so we’re not sidelined in the conversations around the Treasury table.
That’s the space I want us to be aiming at, with core GDP the primary indicator of success in our sector. We will get there by meeting all the expectations society places on us and with a relentless focus on improving the margin between inputs and outputs. Together, we can do this.
It’s a grand ambition and central to AHDB’s mission to unlock the success of agriculture.
But I hope it also reinforces why farming in this country is critical – to national security, wellbeing and the economy. I would see that as an achievement in my time as AHDB chair.