Future Farming Resilience
Navigating the Agricultural Transition
The Future Farming Resilience programme runs across the South West. Please join our newsletter to receive updates about the programme, as well as additional agricultural support, grants schemes and news from Defra.
Free, information and business skills development workshops to help farmers and land managers navigate the changes brought about by the Agricultural Transition.
Between 2021 and 2027, the government will gradually reduce and then stop Direct Payments. Instead, farmers will be supported to improve the environment, improve animal health and welfare, and reduce carbon emissions.
There will be three levels of support aimed at paying for sustainable farming practices, creating habitats for nature recovery and making landscape-scale change such as establishing new woodland and other ecosystem services.
The move away from Direct Payments will be a big change for some farmers, so they will happen over a 7-year transition period to give time to plan and adjust. The Future Farming Resilience Fund has been funded by Defra to allow us to support farmers and land managers with this transition.
The support is free and available from October 2022 to any farmer or land manager currently in receipt of BPS payments. We are able to support farmers throughout Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
How we can help
The support programme is set out in three stages, starting with attendance at one of our local Agricultural Transition Workshops to give you a comprehensive overview of the coming changes and the options available to you. You can then access additional free one-to-one support, as well as access to our specialist, small group workshops. After the initial workshop, the support is completely tailored to your needs.
WHICH AREA WOULD YOU LIKE HELP WITH?
Click on the buttons below to find more information:
Answering your questions
Let's answer your questions and talk about the opportunities from the Agricultural Transition:
- How fast is my BPS reducing?
- What new opportunities are there for my farm now?
- Are there new grants to grow the business?
- Where does organic or regenerative farming fit with the agricultural transition?
- What’s the succession plan for my business?
- How can I diversify my business?
- Can I increase my productivity to improve my profits as the BPS reduces?
- How can I maintain cash flow and profitability?
- Will the Sustainable Farming Incentive work on my farm?
- What other help is available to address the pressures on my farm business?
Podcast
About us

Our team of friendly agricultural advisors have a wealth of experience and expertise across all types of farm business. Through this free support, they can tailor the advice to your specific needs and prepare you for the changes ahead.
Areas we can help you with
One to One Advice
We have a local network of highly experienced consultants and advisors who can sit down with you and get under the skin of your farm business. They will work with you to assess your current position, how the changes are going to affect you and your farm and discuss the options available to you. Carried out in-person or remotely, they will perform a thorough, independent review of all your activities and help to develop an agreed action plan for the future.
Book a One-to-One Appointment
Agricultural Transition Workshops
Join us at one of our local agricultural transition workshops. They we will be running these throughout Devon initially from October 2022 and for the rest of the region from November. These sessions will outline the changes, how to handle the reduction in BPS payments, discuss new grant schemes and assess options for the future.
All of our available workshops can be found below.
Specialist Topic - Small Group Webinars
- Exiting the industry
- Woodland creation
- Family succession planning
- Business diversification
- Adding value to food and drink
- Productivity
- Environmental schemes
- Business planning and cashflow
- Marketing
- Grant schemes.
Digital Training
Digital agency and social enterprise, Cosmic will be providing training to help improve your digital skills, which will include free workshops, as well as one-to-one advice, and training to help build digital confidence and enable your to better manage the day-to-day running of the farm business.
This could include making applications and requesting payments for Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements, submitting tax online to HMRC, or promoting a diversified farm using social media, Google or paid online advertising. The sessions are delivered in a no-nonsense, practical, and supportive manner, free of jargon! They will:
- Help to identify your digital technology needs from the very basics through to advanced skills
- Provide training from highly skilled practitioners who have years of experience and the proven ability to tackle Digital and technology challenges
- Support you in a uniquely kind, friendly and inspiring way
- Grow your confidence and trust in technology in a safe and responsible way
- Increase your confidence, reduce isolation, and improve digital literacy
All of our available workshops can be found below.
Rural Support & Wellbeing
Living and working in the farming community can be hugely rewarding, but it also comes with its own unique challenges.
Maybe it’s the day-to-day practicalities of running your business. Maybe it’s worries about money, safety or rural crime. Or perhaps you have concerns about succession or you're feeling isolated and lonely. Whatever support you need, you can access help.
The Trading Standards Farming Partnership includes lots of organisations who all understand the challenges of farming and can support you to overcome them. Talk to their team and they can link you up with the support you need.
Mental Health Awareness Workshops
The Rural Support and Wellbeing project aims to raise awareness of the rural wellbeing support services available to the farming community through specialist workshops and representation at rural events, such as livestock markets and agricultural shows.
Over the course of the winter, the team will be running a series of winter wellbeing webinars to give you an opportunity to focus on particular topics to help you think about your own wellbeing, as well as your farm business. These will be running on the first Thursday of every month, from 6pm to 8pm.
Find the latest workshops below or sign-up to our agricultural newsletter to be notified as soon as new workshops become available.