The challenges caused by COVID-19, extreme weather events and the forthcoming changes to agricultural support may result in many farmers in England needing to adapt their business models and carefully consider options for the future. The Defra Future Farming Resilience Fund will provide support to farmers as they prepare for the agricultural transition via a number of advice providers. Each provider will provide information, tools, advice, and support for farming businesses throughout this period of change.
As part of the Future Farming Resilience Fund, Niab will be working in partnership with Savills and AKC to provide support to farmers in all sectors across England.
Visit the Future Farming Resilience website for more information
Register for your one-to-one business advice meeting today
As part of the final stage of the Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF) scheme, Niab, in partnership with farm business consultants Savills and AKC, is developing a new programme of support and business advice for arable, mixed, dairy, beef and sheep farming businesses throughout lowland England.
REGISTER HERE
The initiative is part of the new £32 million Defra-funded programme helping farmers in England prepare for the Agricultural Transition, which will see direct support payments reduce to zero by 2027. The initiative is being launched during October 2022 and continues until March 2025.
During this time, farmers, landowners and growers will be able to access advice and support to help to:
- take stock and understand the consequences of the end of direct support payments;
- receive some free guidance to help your business become more resilient and competitive;
- help you make the most of your assets and ensure a sustainable future for your business.
This support is free to any farmer or land manager who receives BPS (Basic Payment Scheme payments) in England, so register your interest today.
Niab and its partners are working hard to bring you the best of business advice and technical support to adapt to the challenges caused by food supply chain pressures, rising input costs, extreme weather events and the changes to agricultural support, and helping you make the transition as seamless as possible. Through this programme we aim to offer:
- farmer workshops to explore the impacts of direct payment reductions and options for change;
- one-to-one support to develop structured change management plans;
- targeted workshops and a resource library on financial, technical and well-being support, to aid change planning;
- in-depth appraisals to address specific issues;
- peer to-peer interaction to share experiences.
Those who benefited from advice under the interim phase (late 2021/early 2022) or have applied for the Exit Scheme can still register to receive free support during this transition period.
For further information contact Niab on futurefarming [at] niab.com
Interim Phase Summary
In the winter of 2021, Niab delivered a Future Farming Resilience Fund project with farmers in the Cotswolds and Wessex areas. Niab worked with around 75 farmers through a series of workshops and on-farm visits covering the impacts of changes to direct payments, exploring options for farming system change and developing change management skills. In this project, NIAB aimed to provide each farmer with a toolkit to plan, implement then monitor changes at small-scale before acting to roll-out change across the business.
Workshops
Workshops were held in November 2021 in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Hampshire and a virtual workshop via Zoom. The initial workshops allowed farmers to quantify the business impacts of direct payment reductions and explore options for change. The virtual workshop was recorded and is now available to view.
Part one: Future farming resilence fund
Part two: The changes farmers are making on farm
Part three: Planning change - concepts and tools
The workshop is supported by a workbook, which gives the key slides and some follow up materials.