Farmers Weekly Podcast special: We talk to Peter Kendall

Sir Peter Kendall reveals all about his time at the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board – after serving six years as AHDB chairman.

In this special interview – recorded just days after Sir Peter left the AHDB – he tells Farmers Weekly chief reporter Johann Tasker that:

• queues outside supermarkets during the coronavirus crisis are a stark reminder that farming should be at the centre of government policy
• it would be “bonkers and insane” for the UK government to allow in cheap food imports that don’t meet UK standards.
• Treasury rules are a “pain in the backside” and government bureaucracy sometimes slowed down important AHDB decisions
• growers and livestock producers should be given a vote on whether AHDB levies should continue – and how they should be spent
• the government must be more ambitious if it is to work successfully in partnership with British farmers and UK agriculture
• farmers must play their part in raising productivity – rather than suggesting that failing to do so is someone else’s fault.

See also: Sir Peter speaks out on food security and find out more about our podcast on the Farmers Weekly Podcast page.