Free support for farming families in Ballyclare and Armagh

The Farm Resilience Programme helps family farms to explore new ideas that could practically and financially benefit their business. The free programme worth £2,000 per farm is a series of workshops delivered by expert consultants and one-to-one support, including:

- Understanding your farm accounts and budgeting

- Know your figures, farming without subsidies

- Your farm and the environment

- Planning for your future

- Get a head in farming

73% of farmers who have taken part in the Farm Resilience Programme reported improved business skills and 58% of farmers reported increases in profitability.

The Farm Resilience Programme is free to any farm business with dairy, beef or sheep as a main enterprise, and the whole family is encouraged to come along.

Last year this programme was delivered in the Rathfriland and Strabane areas and one of the participants said: “I’m glad my son and I got involved in this programme as it allowed us to evaluate our farm business and from this we could ascertain what was working well within the business and where we needed to improve on things. The support provided was brilliant as they really understood our ideas and the plans we wanted to make going forward.

"They helped and supported us throughout the process and it has really helped us to make better decisions for both our farm family and farm business. I would highly recommend to others.”

This year, workshops will be held in Armagh and Ballyclare areas so if you would like more information or to sign up please visit www.royalcountrysidefund.org.uk/farmresilience or contact Christina Murray by emailing [email protected] or call 028 8676 0040.

To find out more about the range of services and programmes available at Rural Support, go to the NI Farm Support hub at www.ruralsupport.org.uk or telephone the Support Line on Freephone 0800 138 1678 available Mon-Fri 9am-9pm.