New scheme for West Midlands beef and sheep farmers

A new three-year programme designed to help West Midlands beef and sheep farmers improve the quality of their stock has been launched by the English Beef and Lamb Executive.

The scheme will provide a mixture of on-farm technical training, seminars and study visits to help farmers ensure the viability of their businesses by boosting the reputation of livestock produced in the region.

The £140,000 Vocational Training Scheme will principally be financed by DEFRA, England Rural Development Programme and the EU.

The programme will be managed by EBLEX in partnership with the NFU, the West Midlands Rural Hub Network and the West Midlands Livestock Forum.

In all 75 events will be run over the three years and it is hoped that more than 2,200 beef and sheep producers will attend.

Phil Hadley, EBLEX Regional Development Manager, said: “This programme of events is open to all West Midlands livestock producers and will deliver real technical solutions to improve performance.

“I encourage all producers to become involved as I believe this offers a real opportunity to improve the regions livestock businesses and is farmer driven.”

For more information about the Scheme, telephone Phil Hadley on 0870 241 8646.