Farmers reap the rewards of our resilience programme

The study, carried out by ADAS, showed that for every £1 invested in the programme participating farmers saw an average return of £3, with 58% of participants recording an increase in profitability estimated at £9,800 each year. Other benefits included improved business skills (73%), increased confidence (75%) and improved succession planning (46%).

Emma Billings from Lincolnshire said: “We wanted to join the Farm Resilience Programme as with so many uncertainties in farming, anything that can help us generate new ideas we’re very supportive of. Every workshop of the programme has opened another door to ask, to analyse, to look at what we’re doing. We have definitely improved our confidence in the future. For my son’s future, it’s helped us realise how we’ve got to pass things on and it’s made those awkward conversations more approachable.”

Started in 2016, the Farm Resilience Programme has supported over 900 farm businesses in 55 locations across the UK to maximise their profit and understand their businesses better through one-to-one support and a series of workshops which focus on topics including business planning, finance, and environmental management.

The improved profitability of participating farm businesses is particularly important after our research in 2017 found that only 16% of farms made a profit from their farming activity alone.

Allan Wilkinson, Chair of The Prince’s Countryside Fund’s Farming Advisory Group said: “This study has shown that our Farm Resilience Programme really is helping farmers prepare for the future. As a result of taking part, they feel more confident to make investments in their farm, have increased awareness of environmental issues and agri-environment schemes, and overall are seeing improvements in their productivity.

“The Farm Resilience Programme forms a key part of the PCF’s ambition to enable family farms to thrive, and by 2024 we want to have extended our reach to 10,000 family farms in the UK, giving them access to our life-changing business support, as well as helping family farms through their life cycles of succession and progression. We firmly believe that this support is vital for farm businesses during this period of transition.”

Iain Cruden from Aberdeenshire said: “I would recommend the Farm Resilience Programme to everyone, young or old, new to farming or been in the industry for years. It helps to break the mould. All of the workshops have been very informative and covered all aspects, we were able to take something away from every single one. The programme has been brilliant, and we’re so glad to have had the opportunity to take part in it.”

Speaking about the FRP in September 2020, HRH The Prince of Wales said: “The programme helps farms to prepare for change and build resilience in their programmes for the future. It puts farmers back in control of their business and builds their confidence to make the changes which are appropriate for their unique situation.”

We would like to thank our partners for their support of this programme, including Aldi, McDonald’s UK & Ireland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.