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The Prince of Wales will have lunch with the organisers of a Louth-based service aimed at tackling rural unemployment across the East Midlands with help from Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES).

The 500 strong Lincolnshire Machinery Ring, based at Cannon Street, Louth, is expanding its business. Originally, the Ring matched unused machinery to farms that needed it, but now the organisation can also provide workers to operate the machines or give farmers subsidised training.

The Prince, a strong supporter of cooperative farm working, will meet with Ring staff during a visit to Lincolnshire Organics at Holme near Scunthorpe on Friday 23 January.

A RES grant of nearly #105,000 to Lincolnshire Machinery Ring over three years will pay for a computerised database and help develop the service that searches a list of around 500 people and businesses to fill staffing gaps.

Director Paul White said: "Farm machinery is becoming increasingly expensive but farmers need to keep updating in order to stay competitive. At the same time, farming is a very seasonal business. Our machinery service makes the most of machinery which might otherwise be sitting idle.

"However, we were finding that farmers needed trained operators to be able to run the machinery. Our expansion helps fill that gap. As well as offering more subsidised training for members this year, the expansion will also maximise employment opportunities for farm workers across the East Midlands in areas where finding work can be a real problem."

Ian Russell, of Defra's Rural Development Service, said: "We always encourage farmers to work together as pooling of resources and co-operation generally means they can improve efficiency, which is more important than ever in today's economic climate."

William Cooper from Lincolnshire Machinery Ring said: "We will be able to show HRH how Ring members are benefiting from sharing scarce labour and machinery resources. We are able to access extra income, labour agency cover and specialized equipment by promoting the tradition of neighbourly cooperation in the countryside. Machinery Rings are allowing farmers to develop new enterprises efficiently, maintain their family farm incomes and providing emergency cover during times of breakdown and illness."

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