A series of meetings starting next week will offer farmers the chance to speak to English Food and Farming Partnerships' (EFFP) new regional manager Sue Scott and to other specialists on business collaboration about opportunities to become more effic
ient and maximise their returns.
Sue – whose post is funded by regional development agency One NorthEast – was appointed in October to provide dedicated business support to groups of farmers who want to work together to improve their profitability and sustainability and to existing farmer-controlled businesses across North East England.
She is also working to build supply chains around non-food crops to maximise the opportunities for those farmers in the region.
The Share to Rear, Share to Farm meetings in Wooler, Alnwick and Kirkharle have been organised by EFFP to help sheep and beef farmers seize new opportunities and to respond to the challenges presented by mounting cost pressures, the impact of disease threat and reduced market prices.
Sue said: "Although beef prices have rallied recently there is still tremendous financial pressure on livestock farmers, particularly on those holdings where there is no production alternative.
"We plan to look at some of the practical ways to reduce costs and the opportunities to attract premium prices for farm output by working together – we'll be showing recent video clips of farmers who are making this work for them and they will be there in person to answer questions and generate discussion.
"They are real commercial cases where farmers are making it happen.
"The evenings are free and will give farmers a chance to speak to specialists and North East farmers who are running real commercial enterprises where this type of collaboration is happening to good effect – so come along and take advantage of a really valuable pool of information."
The meetings are all at 7pm and are on Tuesday at the Tankerville Arms Hotel, Wooler, Thursday, February 21 at Kirkharle Courtyard, Kirkharle, and Tuesday, February 26 at the White Swan Hotel, Alnwick.
To find out more or for booking arrangements, contact Sue on 01388 835948, email sue.scott@effp.com or visit www.sharetofarm.com
Frances Rowe, One NorthEast rural and environment manager, said: "These meetings are an extra resource for farmers to explore new ways to work together more closely and to develop their links with suppliers, new customers and retailers, and we're pleased to be supporting them.
"Of course, as in any sector of industry, farmers are looking for new ways to maximise efficiency and productivity and to access new markets for their produce, and this has never been more important."
The Share to Rear, Share to Farm meetings will also cover investment priorities for the new rural development programme for England. One NorthEast is managing the socio-economic parts of the programme, which is just getting underway in the region.
The full article contains 505 words and appears in Northumberland Gazette newspaper.
