Grower Groups to Share £1.9m in AHDB Horticulture Levy Funding
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The UK horticultural industry is set to benefit from £1.9 million in grants to support a series of legacy projects across field vegetables, tree fruit, soft fruit, protected edibles, and ornamentals, following an agreement on how remaining AHDB horticulture levy reserves should be allocated.
Over three years from April 2026 to March 2029, the residual funds will be distributed through grants to 22 grower associations to help address key challenges faced by growers and to strengthen the long-term resilience of UK horticulture.
Recipients include: British Apples and Pears Limited (BAPL), British Berry Growers, the Brassica Growers Association, the Asparagus Growers Association, the Tomato Growers Association, and Horticulture Trades Association (HTA) working alongside the British Ornamentals Association.
The organisations can use the grants to fund research, innovation, development, knowledge exchange, grower events, communications, and domestic or export market development projects.
Importantly, the outcomes of funded projects must benefit all growers within each sub-sector, and not solely the members of the recipient associations, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle said the grants would support projects focusing on innovation and long-term sector resilience.
British Growers Association chief executive, John Walgate, highlighted that the funding will help crop associations to concentrate on priorities specific to their individual sectors.
“Following the wind-down of AHDB’s horticulture work, the industry has continued to face challenges, with many sub-sectors having different needs and priorities,” Walgate pointed out.
“Through the new grant scheme each individual crop association will be able to apply for grants which best reflect the needs of their particular sector.”
The £1.9m funding comes from surplus reserves held by AHDB after changes to how the organisation operates within horticulture.
Rather than being returned or left unused, the money is being redirected into industry-led projects intended to support productivity, sustainability, and long-term resilience in the UK horticulture sector.
This funding is aimed at delivering legacy projects for the sector, managed through a dedicated, independent process, thereby benefiting former horticulture levy payers.
“In reaching its decision the board noted there was strong industry support for AHDB to work with the industry to find a pragmatic way to release the residual levy funds to benefit growers,” explained AHDB chief executive Helen Herniman.
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