Free business support for Peak District farmers

All you need to know about how to access free business and environmental support for your farm

The Farm for the Future programme is offering free business and environmental support for local farm businesses.

It aims to help family farm businesses understand more about current policy changes and how they will affect your business, as well as providing tools and advice to help you make changes to your business.

The Farming Life Centre is looking for farmers from across the Peak District to take part in the programme, which is coordinated by The Prince’s Countryside Fund.

Need help navigating the future of farming? Free support is available.

Through workshops and one-to-one support, the free Farm for the Future programme provides free business and environmental support so farmers will be better placed to manage the changes ahead.

It aims to help you understand how you can practically improve the management of your farmed environment. It can also help you to discover opportunities through the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes that could help your farm.

The flexible programme consists of a welcome meeting, two workshops and one-to-one support.

At the welcome meeting, you can expect to be given an overview of the Agricultural Transition Plan and how the programme will respond to this.

How farmers can grasp the new opportunities on offer after BPS

The Business Workshop will help farmers to understand and prepare your farm business for changes in agricultural policy, including the removal of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

At the Environment Workshop, you can discover environmental opportunities within the ELM schemes that may financially and practically benefit your farm

You can also discuss future opportunities or challenges with your local coordinator to help you plan for the future via one-to-one support.

Any tenant or owner-occupied farm currently in receipt of BPS in England is eligible to join.

The UK government plans to phase out Direct Payments in England from 2021 to 2027. The Farm for the Future scheme - which is funded by Defra - is part of their approach to help everyone manage the transition away from Direct Payments as smoothly as possible.

For more information and to sign up, please visit www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/farmforthefuture

Contact the Farming Life Centre on 01629 810903 or email [email protected]