Minister Rodgers told the Assembly Agriculture Committee on Wednesday that this beef quality initiative is very much in line with the thinking of the Vision Group which wants to see organisation and collaboration among farmers and enhanced communication and trust among supply chain elements. No figure has been assigned to this element of the plan. A second major area of expenditure is to provide quality education, training and business support services. Resources are being devoted to developing farmer access to electronic information and communication technology. Mrs Rodgers indicated that no money could be found for an Early Retirement Scheme nor for a targeted Capital Scheme to help deal with farm waste management.
Major changes are envisaged.