Farm Business Sustainability Pilot Programme draws to a close with final workshop

As part of CAFRE’s Farm Family Key Skills Programme, the programme was open to farm businesses across Northern Ireland. It provided workshops and mentoring support to assist with three key areas impacting on the sustainability of the farm business: business management, environment, and the farm family.

Farming is becoming increasingly complex. The future will continue to bring substantial challenges for farm businesses and families - whether relating to market fluctuations, changes in support mechanisms or increasing focus on environmental issues. These, along with other factors outside the control of the farmer, are leading to greater pressure and stress on the farm enterprise, the farmer and the farming family.

The pilot programme aims to tackle these pressures and provided direct support to farm businesses through a benchmarking exercise looking at the farm business performance followed by a series of workshops. These covered topics including benchmarking enterprise performance, environmental audits, financial management and succession planning. Each business was appointed a business mentor who provides one to one support to the farm family throughout the programme.

On Friday 7th October, Rural Support hosted the final workshop of the programme, Workshop Six at Loughry Campus, Cookstown. The full day event consisted of workshops focusing on Managing Farm Finances, Carbon and Your Farm, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Farming, Multispecies Swards, Succession Planning and On Farm Diversification, where experts in each area delivered the sessions. The day was then brought to a close with a Panel Discussion on “The Future Agricultural Policy” featuring, David Brown, UFU President, Graham Cooke, Rural Support Mentor, Paul McHenry, CAFRE Head of Knowledge Advisory Service and Barry Caslin, Energy & Rural Development Specialist, Teagasc.

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Edwin Poots MLA commented: “Our agri-food industry is one of the biggest contributors to the NI economy and key to this is ensuring that we have sustainable farm businesses. I launched the Farm Business Sustainability Pilot eight months ago and really enjoyed joining in for the final workshop session to see how it all comes together at the end of the six workshops. We need to look at all means of ensuring the sustainability of our farm businesses, so I think this is a timely and innovative intervention in the face of the challenges facing our farming industry.

“I would like to congratulate the participants in this pilot programme and recognise that, in addition to the support provided through the programme and Rural Support, this has required a considerable commitment from them and thank them for their contribution to this pilot programme.”

An evaluation of the Farm Business Sustainability Pilot Programme will be completed in the coming months.

To learn more www.ruralsupport.org.uk or Freephone 0800 138 1678 (Mon to Frid 9am to 9pm).