Defra has been urged to uphold the results of the ballots on statutory levies for horticulture and potatoes as its consultation on reforming the AHDB Order 2008 comes to an end.
Ministers say that the consultation, which closed on 10 January, is necessary to allow them to proceed with the proposed changes to the statutory instrument.
The Order currently imposes a levy on agriculture and horticulture, but has proposed to remove the levy on horticulture and potatoes following votes to end them.
However, campaigners against the levy have raised concerns that the consultation could be used to overturn the result of the previous statutory vote to abolish the levies, the results of which were announced last year.
Lincolnshire grower John Bratley, one of three farmers who helped trigger the formal ballots, said they had returned a 'clear majority' against the continuation of the levy.
“The last time Defra conducted its own consultation on AHDB in 2018 it obtained only a 0.5% response from the industry," Mr Bratley noted.
"This latest consultation exercise has been equally badly organised and poorly promoted, and so there is a danger that a vocal minority of growers who support some form of compulsory levy could influence the result.
"It is therefore crucial that Defra respects the result of the ballot, which was organised under the existing statutory instrument, and scrap the statutory levy for horticulture and potatoes.”
Another campaigner, Lincolnshire vegetable farmer Peter Thorold, went further: “More than 480 horticultural growers and more than 790 potato levy payers voted to abolish the statutory levy.
“Based on previous experience, the Defra consultation is unlikely to attract more than handful of responses, and so it is crucial that these are not allowed to overturn such a clear mandate to abolish the levy.”
Despite the concerns, the three growers, known as the 'AHDB Petitioners', have welcomed the overall process and the chance to reform horticultural R&D in the UK.
Flower grower Simon Redden added: “As predicted, R&D is already continuing without funding from AHDB, and this is a chance for horticultural research to be as dynamic and fast-moving as the industry that is funding it.
"We also agree with other groups that the government should do more to invest in this area."
