Farmers and rural business have received a further £2m (US$) boost from the government in order to aid their recovery from the effects of foot-and-mouth disease.
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The funds will be shared by 17 successful bidders and takes the total amount given out under the Agriculture Development Scheme (ADS), to £7m – £2m was awarded in 1999 and £3m in 2000.
ADS was designed to improve the marketing performance and competitiveness of the English food indistry. Top priorities for this round of funding were projects which would contribute best to helping post-FMD recovery, which would benefit a large proportion of producers or an entire sector, and which demonstrated commitment from a wide range of partners from different parts of the supply chain.
Successful bids include schemes to improve breeding stock, make better use of dairy calves, and to develop better integrated and more responsive supply chains. A list of successful bids is attached.
Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty said: “We promised a range of measures to help the farming industry to help itself and establish a more viable and competitive industry in the aftermath of FMD.
“The projects we are supporting demonstrate that the industry has both the will and the ideas needed to improve marketing and competitiveness. Many of them will benefit not only the immediate applicants but, if successful, other parts of the industry – whether through the spread of best practice and new ideas or through the availability and use of improved breeding or fattening stock.”
