With significant changes to agriculture imminent, the National Sheep Association (NSA) has launched a ‘Business Readiness Toolkit’ to help UK sheep producers ensure they’re prepared for changes in the coming months and years.
NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “NSA has long been aware our exit from the EU will result in significant change that will affect sheep farming. This is likely to be seen in trade patterns and markets, but also in the way that Government and society is prepared to support agriculture following our departure from the EU Common Agriculture Policy.
“Our Government, and devolved administrations, have an ambitious vision for British farming enterprises to become more profitable and productive, to further improve environmental conditions in their widest sense, and to continue to raise our standards of production particularly in the areas of the environment and animal welfare. This ambition is generally shared by all our main political parties and is unlikely to be affected by any future changes in Government.”
He continued: “At NSA we are confident the future holds real opportunities in the marketplace, and that our industries approach to multi-functional land use and sustainable land management will be recognised as beneficial by policymakers and the majority of the public. But we also know the change of the order we could see will bring disruption and uncertainty for many.
“We want to see every sheep farmer given the best opportunity to succeed and continue if that is what they wish for, and we also want to see clear opportunities for our next generation of sheep farmers to come in and be properly rewarded. I hope this toolkit is a good start to help NSA members, neighbours and colleagues start to prepare for the future, and you can be sure all NSA’s work over the coming years will remain focussed on securing our crucial role as food producers, land managers, and potentially deliverers of an even broader range of valued outputs.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
