News

Successful Producer Organisation Event

UFU Watch

The Ulster Farmers’ Union are delighted to have been a part of the Producer Organisation (PO) Information Forum which took place last week and are very pleased with its success. The ‘Growing Stronger Together’ event jointly organised by the UFU, DARD, Northway Mushrooms and the Horticulture Forum for Northern Ireland treated producers to a number of excellent presentations from top industry speakers. 

Commenting on the success of the event, UFU Deputy President Barclay Bell said, “The ‘Growing Stronger Together’ event was a fantastic opportunity for people to find out more about running a Producer Organisation and hear first-hand of the benefits of becoming a member.  A Producer Organisation generally champions a specific product but the structures, support, processes and marketing employed by a successful Producer Organisation can easily be applied to other products.   Producer Organisations can be a real driver of growth, providing small businesses with the reach, buying power and influence to compete and significantly grow their market share. This was certainly evident in the presentations from Northway Mushrooms and Fresh Gro Limited who spoke of their experiences and benefits as a Producer Organisation.”

Barclay continued; “Whilst the Producer Organisation model satisfies Horticulture requirements at present, under CAP 2013 proposals it would suggest that the model could be replicated across other Agricultural sectors and it was great to see milk, beef and sheep producers in our audience.”