This section of the website is only available to those that have registered for support from NIAB, Savills and AKC
Sign in to access a number of free tools and videos to help you create a resilient farm business
As part of the Future Farm Resilience Fund (FFRF) scale-up scheme, NIAB, in partnership with farm business consultants Savills and AKC, are developing a new programme of free support and business advice for arable, mixed, dairy, beef and sheep farming businesses throughout England. ​​​​The FFRF initiative is part of the new £32 million Defra-funded programme helping farmers prepare for the Agricultural Transition, which will see direct support payments reduce to zero by 2027. From October 2022 until March 2025, farmers will be able to access advice and support to help their business adapt to the challenges caused by food supply chain pressures, rising input costs, extreme weather events and the changes to agricultural support. To qualify for the free support you must be receiving BPS (Basic Payment Scheme payments) in England (farms that stretch across borders with Wales or Scotland can apply if they have some land in England). As of 14 March 2023, farmers who have a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement but aren’t currently claiming BPS are also eligible for support under FFRF. To have an HLS agreement farmers must have management control of the land in the agreement, which is the whole farm. Participants who have already taken part in FFRF (Initial and/or Interim Phases with any provider) or have applied for the Exit Scheme can also apply. ​The FFRF programme will be delivered by 17 different advice providers from across the UK food and farming industry, each will provide information, tools, advice, and support for up to 32,000 farmers and landowners throughout this period of change. A complete list of all 17 providers is given at the bottom of the page. As you can only sign up to one provider, please take a look and consider which option is the best for you and your business. NIAB, Savills and AKC’s collaborative network of 30+ experienced farm business consultants will be using a mix of online tools, resources, and industry expertise from across the three organisations to provide a series of workshops, events and one-to-one meetings. All the content on this website and advice provided by us will be completely free of charge and costs are covered by the Defra FFRF programme. At the start of this phase of the project, there will be an opportunity to attend awareness workshops which do not constitute a commitment to use our services as part of this project. If, however you wish to join any further meetings, workshops and receive a one-to-one business consultation you will need to register your interest and agree to complete a brief survey at the start and the end of the programme.
How can we help?
We're here to provide you with more information and answer any questions you may have, or put you in touch with the right people.
Workshops to explore the impacts of direct payment reductions and options for change
In-depth appraisals to address specific issues
Peer-to-peer interaction to share experiences
One-to-one support to develop structured change management plans
Targeted workshops and a resource library on financial, technical and well-being support, to aid change planning
Personalised
Our initial session will be dedicated to assessing the current health of your business and creating an action plan to fit your unique business needs and goals.
Targeted
Our team will work with you to explore what the transition means for you and your business and provide an opportunity to receive the best support available.
Integrative
We will aim to combine the extensive business, management and technical support we have available to guide your business through this transition phase to a future without dependency on support payments.
To register your interest:
contact us by email: futurefarming@niab.com
or telephone Greg Crawford on 07453 965836
Latest news and views
To be informed is to be empowered and this particularly true as we move this transition phase. Throughout the FFRF scale-up phase we will keep you up to date with current news, tips and advice to help ensure a sustainable future for your business. We also recommend that you register with the Defra future farming blog any announcements etc. are usually posted here first.
Most recent posts
Events, workshops and group activities
The approach being taken by NIAB, Savills and AKC to offer support and business advice is to provide one-to-one business consultations to identify your unique business requirements to help you achieve the objective of developing a healthy, financially sound, and environmentally sustainable business. As part of the package being offered we will provide an opportunity for you to join us and relevant subject area experts at various events held around the country and online.
Spring seminar series
There were six seminars in this series presented by subject area experts from NIAB, Savills and AKC. These are a prelude for future workshops and events which we will host throughout the rest of the project. Click here to watch the videos
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These seminars are only available to those registered for support with NIAB/ Savills/ AKC and you will need to log in to the website. If you need help signing in please contact us at future.farms@niab.com
Help us develop the content
We are working with Stretch Development to create six webinars that will be available both as videos and podcasts. They will be working with experts in their field on a range of topics including diversification, business management, marketing, planning and motivation, and wellbeing. To help us plan these webinars we want you to tell us what we should be asking these experts, what do you want to hear about, what are the three big questions that will help you grow your business? To let us know email us at future.farming@niab.com
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We also have access to a series of videos from Stretch Development that are available to those who have registered for support with NIAB/ Savills/ AKC.
Resources
There is plenty of information, tools and advice available that may be of use to you during the transition phase and beyond. Please feel free to explore our library, if you have anything that you think will be of interest, please let us know (futurefarming@niab.com)
About us
NIAB delivered a pilot Future Farming Resilience Fund project with farmers in the Cotswolds and Wessex areas through winter 2021. Working with 75 farmers, with workshops and on-farm visits, NIAB specialists covered the impacts of changes to direct payments, explored options for farming system change and developed change management skills. Each farmer was provided with a toolkit to plan, implement then monitor changes at small-scale before acting to roll-out change across the business.
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At the same time Savills and AKC worked in partnership with AHDB to deliver strategic advice, business planning and performance monitoring to help farm businesses explore their options and benchmark performance.