Helping a Suffolk farmer to future-proof their farm finances
Background
In March 2023, ADAS farm business consultants visited an owner-occupied arable farm in the Suffolk countryside. The farm, operated by a single farmer with shared ownership among family members, spans over 350 hectares of arable land. In addition to farming, the business also generates income from nearby rental properties.
Like many others in the sector, the farm had growing concerns around the phased reduction of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). As part of Defra’s Future Farming Resilience Fund scheme, the farmer asked ADAS to assess how the reduction of BPS payments would affect their finances and how to offset the loss.
The challenge
Although the farm and its rental properties were profitable at the time of our visit, our financial analysis revealed how serious the impact of declining BPS payments would be. Taking into account profit requirements, we calculated the business would need to generate an additional £75,000 to remain financially viable.
The solution
After on-site visits and conversations with key stakeholders, we identified several potential opportunities to offset the loss and build long-term business resilience.
We proposed a tailored action plan to future-proof the business. This included:
- Recording gross margins across the enterprise
- Tracking arable yields at the field level
- Benchmarking arable performance against similar farms
- Evaluating infrastructure improvements to enhance profitability
- Developing a succession plan for long-term security
