Farmers in the North of England are set to benefit from free business advice to improve the way they run their farm businesses.
The initiative will provide free business support, skills and planning tuition, and one-to-one guidance to 20 small livestock and mixed family farm businesses.
It is part of the Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme, which is taking place in its fourth year.
The programme, run by the Prince's Countryside Fund, will be running in Yorkshire and Lancashire and will also be available to National Trust tenants in the Lake District.
Alan, a farmer from Cumbria, who took part in the programme last year said: “The programme is helping us to achieve our goals of farming full time and growing our business – we’re learning all the time, future proofing ourselves.
“This is a time of huge uncertainty, so we need to listen to others and take as much help as we can get.”
He also said: “I’d definitely recommend taking part. If you’re prepared to move forward, it’s the perfect opportunity. We’re all going to have to get better and smarter with our farms.”
The programme aims to tackle some of the biggest challenges and uncertainties being faced by family farm businesses across the UK.
Developed off the back of the Prince’s Dairy Initiative, the multi-million pound programme is now entering its fourth year and planning to recruit its 1000th farmer.
Farmers are given the skills to evaluate their viability and make informed decisions about the future by using the Business Health Check Tool.
The programme also brings together family farm enterprises in local networks so they can review their current activity, and identify opportunities and improvements that can be made on-farm to build resilience.
This year, the Managing Your Farmed Environment workshop has been introduced which will help farmers to be more informed about their own environmental assets and opportunities for delivering public goods.
Claire Saunders, Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said: “The workshop will encourage a cultural change in the way farmers think?about their contribution to the environment and in the opportunities for delivering public goods.??
“Our partnership with the National Trust will help us to reach even more farming families and we are very grateful for their support.”
The Prince’s Countryside Fund was established by Prince Charles in 2010 and aims to enhance the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life.
