Recently the Pershore and Upton Branch of the NFU hosted their annual farming conference, with the panellists giving their thoughts and experiences on the topic of Farming for Profit. A topic which is exceedingly relevant in these uncertain times.

The first speaker of the evening was Rachel Hallos. Rachel is the new Vice President of the NFU, and also works in partnership with her husband on their upland farm. She was followed by professor Paul Wilson and Jack Bobo. Paul is a professor at the University of Nottingham and Jack was formerly the director of the universities Food System Institute. They worked together on research identifying key themes in agricultural and food economics and developing policy advice for the agricultural sector. The final speaker of the conference was Andy Thompson. Andy is the Global Managing Director for Volac’s additives business, having lead Genus’s Europe, Middle East, and Asia bovine divisions, and previously worked for Promar.

There were consistent themes running though every talk of the evening, all of which fell under the umbrella of the need for all farm businesses to have an overarching objective of producing profit, as without profit no other farming objectives can be met. To deliver this, farms must be efficient businesses, with all the following needed:

  • Ensuring that you and your business is equipped with the best skillset to deliver its objectives. And that you can always improve your existing skills and develop new ones to ensure you are the best leader for your business.
  • Making use of grants and diversification where needed. But also farming where farming is profitable.
  • Adopting new technologies, as the industry has done throughout history. The high capital cost of new technologies was recognised, and suggestions that working collaboratively to reduce these costs is an option.
  • Working collaboratively to bring in the skills that your business lacks. This does not only have to be about joint capital ventures between farms, but it can also be smaller things such as grazing or cropping agreements, or even just talking to other farmers about their experiences.
  • Following market trends to take advantage of market highs and lows and being able to budget.
  • Take specialist advice from other professionals when you need it. No one can be expected to know everything, so if you need assistance then reach out to someone who can help.

The evening was concluded with questions from the audience, which developed on their earlier talks, and a closing summary by Oliver Surman, the NFU County Chair, before the conferences and speakers gathered for drinks and more informal discussions.

Overall, the panellists all brought a feeling of optimism about the future of farming. They demonstrated that farming can and is a profitable venture, and will continue to be so if businesses keep adapting and taking measures to put profitability first.

We would like to thank the NFU for an informative evening and allowing Carver Knowles to continue to sponsor this event.