British potato growers face legal action over final AHDB levy payment

According to a report by Farmers Weekly’s Philip Clarke, the AHDB is warning potato growers who failed to submit a 2021 potato planting return form and who refuse to pay this year’s levy that they face the prospect of legal action.

It is understood that about half of all growers declined to fill in their annual return following the vote earlier this year to scrap the potato sector board, prompting the AHDB to produce its own estimates of how much each one owes.

This has been communicated in a letter to each grower concerned from AHDB finance director Naveen Gupta, still inviting them to submit an official planting return, but also providing the estimated levy due based on past plantings.

“If you fail to make a return or inform the board that you are not liable to pay levy within 28 days of this notification of the estimate, you will become liable under Article 7(2) of the order to pay levy in accordance with that estimate,” he wrote.

This is expected to raise £5.6m, which will be added to the £1.2m held in AHDB Potato reserves.