Originally from: Farmtalking
                        
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2003/030912b.htm NEWS RELEASE

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR
Out of hours: 020 7270 8960
 
12 September 2003
 
CASH BOOST FOR FARMER COOPERATION

More grants have been awarded to help bring arable farmers together and to boost our native cattle breeds, Food and Farming Minister Lord Whitty announced today.

The Agriculture Development Scheme grants will help deliver key aims of the government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food.

The successful bids are:

White Knight – A major project led by Farmcare, part of the Co-Operative Group, and United Farmers (a Federal cooperative), initially bringing together farmers representing 15 per cent of our cereals acreage. Other large farmers and cooperatives will be encouraged to join. The project aims to change the way in which trading is carried out by working directly with retailers, processors and suppliers in the agricultural and horticultural supply chains. The objective is to remove unnecessary supply chain costs and ensure that farmers work more closely with customers. UK Sire Services – This Devon-based project aims to establish an independent semen storage facility available to all cattle breeds and all cattle breeders, and to link this to ways of improving semen distribution. The project will not only benefit specialist cattle breeders and the export business for semen of our native commercial livestock breeds, but is also of national importance for the conservation, management and enhanced use of our native animal genetic resources. Since 2000, the government has given out more than £12 million to farmers in ADS grants.