Looking forward

The next 12 months will be an interesting period of transition as the statutory levy boards evolve to form the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB). The important role for the ARF is to maintain that focused collaborative research programmes continue to be conducted to maintain a continuous flow of new knowledge and concepts to the levy payer.

The joint projects agreed at our December 2006 meeting will be the main focus of our efforts and the involvement of the KT group will ensure a cohesive approach to the transfer of knowledge at the conclusion of activities.

The development of the ARF website has already been extremely beneficial in providing a unique resource to share ideas and project proposals, making an efficient use of levy board staff time.This resource will ensure maximum outputs from individual projects at a competitive value based on a cost sharing mechanism wherever possible, established through our cross sector working relationships.

The website is not only used for projects. Industry consultation responses are also debated through this
facility, enabling a considerable amount of work to be achieved prior to any face-to-face meetings.

Changing times

From 1 April 2008 we will be known as the Agriculture and Horticulture Research Forum (AHRF).