Collaboration Ventures

With studies showing that UK farmers are well behind other countries when it comes to collaborating ventures, this meeting will explore the pros and cons of co-operation ventures. It will look at the legalities associated with these different ventures, investigating how you would set them up so the agreements are robust, sustainable and beneficial for all involved.

Making Your Farm count for Birds 

Join CFE South East, AHDB Petworth Monitor Farm and Rother Valley Farmers Group for a free meeting on Making Your Farm Count for Birds, including information on how to get involved in the Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) in February, and a farm walk led by Dr Richard Black looking at providing for birds in a productive farm enterprise. Marc Bull of Bright Seeds will be on hand to talk about Stewardship scheme mixes and their establishment

• Find more about the Big Farmland Bird Count and how to get involved 
• Hear what farmland birds need and how to provide it 
• Get free bird ID cards and BFBC recording sheets 

This event follows the Monitor Farm meeting and must be booked separately. To secure your place please email paul.cobb@fwagsoutheast.co.uk.

Speakers:

• Adrian Matthews (Farm Business Consultant) 
• Robert Fox (Farm Manager)
• Paul Cobb (CFE)

Programme

• Registration 
• Welcome and introduction: Paul Hill – AHDB Knowledge Exchange Manager (South East)
• Farming operational up-date: Mark Chandler (MF)
• Collaboration – is this the answer for business robustness? Adrian Matthews (Farm Business Consultant)
  • Evaluating the present financial situation (FBS Data)
  • What puts a farming business in the top 25% (comparison data)
  • Ways to control your fixed costs
  • Types of Joint Ventures and their Pros & Cons. (including share farming, contract farming/stubble to stubble agreements, machinery syndicates, FBT’s etc.) 
  • Economies of scale 
  • Staff engagement strategies
  • The legalities you need to know about when setting up a JV (incl. tax implications, profit shares capital investment, liabilities etc.)
  •  Looking to the future without support payments – succession - developing the next generation. – (grant enticements) developing efficient production, productivity and business robustness.
• Break (with break-out) Q. Groups ask to discuss and list what they think has the biggest impact on the variability of farm business performance?
• Adrian Matthews (Collaboration Ventures cont.)
• Robert Fox (Farm Manager, Squab Hall Farm, Warwickshire. (Case Study)
  
  • Farming operation
  • JV agreement – why you do it and how it works?
  • What the business has gained?
  • What has been the key drivers of its success?
  • Looking to the future - continuing business robustness without annual subsidies
• Making Your Farm Count for Birds: introductory talk by Paul Cobb, CFE 
  • Find more about the Big Farmland Bird Count and how to get involved 
  • Hear what farmland birds need and how to provide it 
  • Get free bird ID cards and BFBC recording sheets
• Event summary: Paul Hill AHDB
• Lunch and finish
• Making Your Farm count for Birds (additional event booked separately)

About Petworth Monitor Farm

Mark Chandler runs Moor Farm at Petworth in West Sussex in partnership with his father Richard, managing a total of 1,285ha including AHA tenancies, FBTs, contract farming agreements and stubble-to-stubble contracting. Mark grows spring malting barley, oilseed rape, spring beans and winter wheat on loam over weald clay soil with some sandy clay loam. The farm has been in non-inversion tillage for 20 years, and Mark continually works towards moving less soil. Mark wants to improve his current farm practices to increase his productivity.

Find out more by visiting the Petworth Monitor Farm page

About Monitor Farms

AHDB Monitor Farms bring together groups of like-minded farmers who wish to improve their businesses by sharing performance information and best practice around a nationwide network of host farms. AHDB organises and facilitates Monitor Farm meetings for farmers, who own and operate the scheme – by farmers, for farmers.

Monitor Farms are part of the AHDB Farm Excellence Programme. Each Monitor Farm project runs for three years.