There is much interest in animal welfare both amongst farmers and other members of the food chain and consumers. However, it is not clear what benefits accrue to both farmers and consumers when beef cattle and sheep are kept to a ‘high’ welfare standard significantly above the legal minimum. If the market in ‘high welfare’ beef and lamb is to be sustainable, then a systematic study is needed of the potential marketing advantages to both farmers and consumers. In order to address this topic, the following questions need to be answered:
What is the understanding and recognition of ‘high’ animal welfare within the food chain from the primary producer to the consumer?
What are the added costs, if any, of higher welfare?
Is higher animal welfare rewarded within the market place?
Are higher welfare standards more prevalent within recognised home brands such as Welsh Lamb or Scotch beef compared to imported New Zealand lamb, or Irish and South American beef?
Does collaborative marketing and premier production instil an aspiration to raise welfare standards?
What role does Government have in encouraging high welfare production systems?
Do current support payments have a positive or negative effect on high animal welfare?
These are some of the questions that I wish to investigate on my study tour this Autumn to New Zealand and Australia.
Sunday, 30 August 2009
The study
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust
History of the Trust
Foundation
Nuffield, the name and the emblem (a bull riding a bicycle), both derive from the late Lord Nuffield. He was born plain William Morris in Oxford and left school at the age of 12. He initially repaired bicycles for a living, but as a result of his exceptional engineering skills he was soon constructing his own new models, followed by motor bikes and, finally, the Morris motor car. Thus, one of the great industries of the early 20th century was founded.Both financial reward and social recognition came to William Morris. With his large and growing fortune, he was able to give away substantial sums during his lifetime to various charitable bodies. One of the beneficiaries, in 1943, was the newly created Nuffield Foundation.The initial goal of the Foundation was to provide support for health and social well-being, including Fellowships and Scholarships in medicine. By 1947, at the suggestion of Jack Maclean, then Vice-President of the NFU, these objectives were widened to include agricultural advancement following on from the major war effort in agriculture. This led to the launch of the very first Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 1947.Subsequently, the Trust has become a separate body, independent of the Nuffield Foundation and is registered as a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, following its incorporation in July 2003.The Nuffield Scholars Association held its first Winter Conference, now an annual event, in 1972. In the late '70s, HRH the Duke of Gloucester agreed to become Patron, a position he holds to this day.For a detailed history - and copies of the Articles and Memorandum of Association - contact the Director of the Trust at the Registered Office (Blaston Lodge Farm, Blaston, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 8DB).
Objectives
The stated objectives of the Trust are to promote agricultural, horticultural, forestry and countryside management education in the United Kingdom and abroad, and to advance the standard of farming (including the food supply chain, horticulture, forestry and countryside management) in the UK through the provision of Scholarships to persons who fulfil the conditions set out by the Trust to enable them to study the practices and techniques employed anywhere in the world.
Foundation
Nuffield, the name and the emblem (a bull riding a bicycle), both derive from the late Lord Nuffield. He was born plain William Morris in Oxford and left school at the age of 12. He initially repaired bicycles for a living, but as a result of his exceptional engineering skills he was soon constructing his own new models, followed by motor bikes and, finally, the Morris motor car. Thus, one of the great industries of the early 20th century was founded.Both financial reward and social recognition came to William Morris. With his large and growing fortune, he was able to give away substantial sums during his lifetime to various charitable bodies. One of the beneficiaries, in 1943, was the newly created Nuffield Foundation.The initial goal of the Foundation was to provide support for health and social well-being, including Fellowships and Scholarships in medicine. By 1947, at the suggestion of Jack Maclean, then Vice-President of the NFU, these objectives were widened to include agricultural advancement following on from the major war effort in agriculture. This led to the launch of the very first Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 1947.Subsequently, the Trust has become a separate body, independent of the Nuffield Foundation and is registered as a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, following its incorporation in July 2003.The Nuffield Scholars Association held its first Winter Conference, now an annual event, in 1972. In the late '70s, HRH the Duke of Gloucester agreed to become Patron, a position he holds to this day.For a detailed history - and copies of the Articles and Memorandum of Association - contact the Director of the Trust at the Registered Office (Blaston Lodge Farm, Blaston, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 8DB).
Objectives
The stated objectives of the Trust are to promote agricultural, horticultural, forestry and countryside management education in the United Kingdom and abroad, and to advance the standard of farming (including the food supply chain, horticulture, forestry and countryside management) in the UK through the provision of Scholarships to persons who fulfil the conditions set out by the Trust to enable them to study the practices and techniques employed anywhere in the world.
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