Volume 12: Livestock Farming
7. Sources of expertise and advice to farmers
ADAS
Review of ADAS

7.6 ADAS was established in 1971 as an executive arm of MAFF. Its principal advisory function was to provide scientific, technical and business management advice to the agricultural and horticultural industries. ¹ The aim was to help farmers 'develop technically efficient and financially sound farm businesses'. ²It had a network of offices throughout England and Wales, co-located usuallywith MAFF's network of local offices.

7.7 ADAS also provided veterinary services and advice to farmers through the State Veterinary Service (SVS), which carried out a range of statutory functions for MAFF. The SVS comprised a network of Veterinary Investigation Centres (VICs), the Veterinary Field Service and laboratories. However, in 1990 the SVS moved out of ADAS and became part of MAFF's Animal Health Group. ³ Vol. 3: The Early Years, 1986-88 should be consulted for a brief description of the SVS's regional structure, role, and interactions with local vets and farmers.

Review of ADAS

7.8 In 1984 Professor Ronald Bell, the Director-General of ADAS, was asked by the Minister of Agriculture to report on the future shape and direction of ADAS. In particular Professor Bell was asked to examine whether there was scope for passing on some or all of the cost of any ADAS service to the users rather than the taxpayer. His report to Ministers recommended that:

Wherever there is a clearly identifiable and substantial benefit to the customer Ministers may like to consider whether the customer should bear part or all of the cost of providing the services whether by direct charging or by general levy. ⁴

7.9 The Government accepted Professor Bell's recommendation on charging and decided that farmers should contribute to the cost of providing ADAS services, apart from 'public good' advice on conservation, farm business diversification and animal welfare, which continued to be free of charge. ⁵ From 30 March 1987 fees were introduced:

• the traditional advisory visit cost £28+VAT for a visit lasting up to one hour. Adjustments could be made for longer visits or for the advice of certain specialists;
• other services were offered on contract at negotiated prices, or through schemes designed to deal with specific livestock, land management, and business management needs; and
• two new subscriptions schemes became available:
1. for £50+VAT per year, basic advice by telephone was offered; and
2. for £150+VAT per year, up to four hours of on-farm advice would be added to the service provided under the £50 scheme. ⁶

7.10 Charged ADAS services extended to all areas of livestock management and associated business issues but, following the transfer of veterinary services out of ADAS in 1990, excluded veterinary advice. ⁷

7.11 At the time BSE emerged, ADAS's communication methods with farmers included one-to-one consultancy on the farm, meetings with farmers' groups, conferences, publications, radio and TV, and telephone and electronic information services. However, the introduction of consultancy services on a fee-paid basis in 1987 meant contracts were tailored to meet the needs of individual farmers, ⁸ which reduced regular interaction with farmers who chose not to pay for services:

The number of conferences and farmers' meetings declined and the volume of publications dropped sharply. There had previously been a very wide range of advisory leaflets and bulletins on specialised subjects, regular newsletters to farmers, research reviews and many other publications, some of which were free and others priced. The number of publications had begun to decline in the early 1980s, and with the introduction of fees many of the specialist leaflets and other publications ceased to be revised and eventually went out of print. ⁹

7.12 ADAS's Divisional Bulletins, which were compiled by ADAS's divisional offices and sent by post to farmers on a monthly basis, were an important method of communication. Each administrative division had a different branded version, but they usually contained a variety of 'awareness items', mainly on technical matters, but also on policy and regulatory issues. When ADAS started to charge for its services, distribution of the bulletins continued, and they were used to promote ADAS's services. All 22 bulletins ceased production in March 1992. ¹⁰

7.13 A survey of ADAS services conducted on behalf of the National Audit Office and ADAS in 1991 showed that 43 per cent of farmers who paid for chargeable advice used ADAS. Other sources of advice included accountants, vets and solicitors. About a third of the farmers who had sought free 'public good' advice used ADAS. ¹¹

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¹ S124 Bell para. 4

² YB84/11.13/1.5

³ M25 tab 1

⁴ YB84/11.13/1.18

⁵ S49 Franklin para. 9

⁶ YB87/3.9/1.3

⁷ S371 Needham para. 19

⁸ S371 Needham para. 19

⁹ DM01 tab 25 p. 2

¹⁰ DM01 tab 25 p. 2

¹¹ National Audit Office, Advisory Services to Agriculture (1991) pp. 26-32