Kicker: Processors refusing to share levy payer details
By Abi Kay
AHDB has reiterated its call for farmers to register to vote on how their levies are spent, after figures showed just 2 per cent of beef producers and 4 per cent of lamb producers had signed up.
The statistics, which were accurate as of February 14, prompted a discussion on Twitter after they were published by Gloucester arable and sheep farmer Jake Freestone, who claimed they were shockingly low.
Farmers responding to Mr Freestones tweet claimed the process was pretty clunky as mixed farmers have to register for multiple sectors.
An AHDB spokesperson said: The conversations around signing up to take part in Shape the Future on social media helpfully highlight the importance to levy payers of registering to have a say on the work they want prioritised by AHDB over the next five years.
We are encouraged by the levels of interest we have seen so far, but there is still much to do. Over the next six weeks, right up to the March 31 registration deadline, we will be continuing to promote the Shape the Future campaign by writing to levy payers, meeting them face to face and online, at farm events, industry meetings and through media activity.
Farmers Guardian understands AHDB has been unable to contact all levy payers in the livestock sectors directly about the votes, as their information is held by the processors which collect the levy.
The board only holds the contact details of about half of the total number of levy payers, but processors have serious concerns about breaching data protection law by passing on the information they have.
The AHDB spokesperson said it was sensible that processors were cautious about sharing data, but they needed to support the exercise.
The spokesperson said: Following expert guidance, our understanding is General Data Protection Regulation does not present a barrier for directly sharing levy payer information with AHDB for levy-related communication purposes.Our conversations with processors on this matter continue.
