Ministers approve 2010/11 levies

Levy rates to be charged to farmers, growers and processors by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 have been approved by Ministers in Defra and the Devolved Administrations.

The rates (see table attached) are for the six agricultural and horticultural sectors covered by AHDB - pigs ( England only), beef and lamb (England only), cereals and oilseeds (UK), horticulture (GB), milk (GB) and potatoes (GB).

The only levy rate change for the 2010/11 financial year applies to the GB potato levy which will increase by 3%. This means potato growers will see an increase of £1.17 from £39.00 to £40.17 per hectare and purchasers of potatoes will see an increase of £0.0051 from £0.17 to £0.1751 per tonne.

The levy rates for the other five AHDB sectors remain unchanged from the 2009/10 rate.