Discussion points from the initial gathering of the "Farm for the Tomorrow" initiative
Farmers Gather for Collaborative Workshop in Uffington
Farmers from around the country gathered in Uffington, near Stamford, for a welcome meeting of the Royal Countryside Fund's 'Farm for the Future' programme. The event, which marked the beginning of the ongoing programme, brought together farmers with a wide range of experiences, from new entrants to experienced stock people.
The RCF Farm for the Future programme, scheduled to continue over the coming months, aims to promote collaboration among livestock farmers. Although the participants are not yet an official farm cluster group, they demonstrated collaborative working qualities during the meeting.
The skilful leadership of Liz Genever and Hannah Thorogood, speakers at the event, guided the collaborative process within the RCF Farm for the Future programme. The gathering offered a year of free membership of PfL to non-members, fostering the growth of the cooperative community.
Farm cluster groups, springing up all over the country, are cooperative networks of farms that collaborate to improve environmental outcomes, share knowledge, and support sustainable farming practices. These groups bring together livestock farmers to collectively manage resources and deliver environmental benefits more effectively than individual farms acting alone.
The value of the RCF Farm for the Future programme may not primarily come from the scheduled speakers and topics, but from the interactions and relationships forged among participants. The group discussed various challenges in the agricultural sector, including uncertainty, low supermarket values for food, lack of recognition as a career, balancing food production and environmental management, and issues related to farming.
Farmers collaborate to maintain continuous hedge lines and buffer strips across multiple farms, such as along riverbanks. Cluster groups contribute to collaboration among livestock farmers by facilitating shared environmental projects, enabling knowledge exchange, supporting access to government schemes and funding, addressing common land and landscape-scale issues, and improving farmer attitudes towards collaboration.
The bonds between members of the RCF Farm for the Future programme are expected to strengthen over time, as farmers continue to share costs for new equipment, knowledge, and concerns. Sharing costs for new equipment is a common practice among farmers in cluster groups, making investments more feasible.
The Defra is emphasizing building resilience within farming, and this meeting is part of a series of workshops aimed at achieving this goal. The interactions among participants, such as during breaks and farm walks, are expected to be significant in the RCF Farm for the Future programme.
The RCF Farm for the Future programme, published on October 25, 2023, is a testament to the growing trend of collaboration among farmers in the UK. It is a step towards enhancing both farm productivity and environmental stewardship, demonstrating that just because a farmer's boundary stops at the farm gate, nature doesn't.
- The RCF Farm for the Future programme, aimed at promoting collaboration among livestock farmers, also encourages lifelong learning and education-and-self-development through knowledge exchange among participants.
- Farmers, as part of the RCF Farm for the Future programme, are fostering a cooperative community, embracing lifelong learning as they discuss challenges in the agricultural sector and work together on shared environmental projects.
