Local Business Development Groups making a difference The Business Development Groups (BDGS) Scheme has made a difference to farm businesses, according to an interim report by the Agri-Food Biosciences Institute (AFBI). Tuesday, 11th May 2021, 8:44 am Fiona Dickson of CAFRE’s Agri-business Branch explained that the report showed that, after two years, being in a BDG had a positive effect on gross margin for dairy, sheep, suckler cow and beef finishing enterprises. The report also showed that the improvement was statistically significant for dairy enterprises. The BDGs Scheme has been delivered by the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) for five years and over 3000 farm businesses regularly attend training events which help develop productivity, sustainability and profitability.