07 Jun 2019

Diversification tops the list in helping farm businesses cope with challenging times

49% of farmers and landowners are planning to change and develop their businesses to cope with the challenges and opportunities of Brexit, according to a new report.

In their latest Rural Sentiment Survey, Knight Frank, has highlighted that of the percentage looking to improve their business, diversification was the main way they were looking to achieve this, closely followed by people looking into tree planting and environmental schemes as a consequence of climate change pressures.

Speaking at the launch of Knight Frank’s 2019 Rural Report, Andrew Shirley, head of rural research at the agency, said it was important diversification added value to existing businesses. “It should take risk out of the supply chain,” he said, suggesting farmers could invest the last few years’ cash from the current subsidy regime into diversification projects. 

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He added those looking to diversify needed a unique selling point and to spot market trends, giving the example of whisky distillery Kilchoman Distillery, in Scotland, which was using malting barley grown on-farm and tapping into a growing sector.

Climate change was another area highlighted by the report that was also set to have a big impact across all industries including agriculture, with Ross Murray, chairman of rural asset management, highlighting younger people were taking it extremely seriously.

He said, “We need to look at energy efficiency, min-till and no till farming. There is huge investment and a change in mindsets required.”

Read the full report here

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