What do you think the best form of diversification is?

Jackson4

Member
Location
Wensleydale
When did diversification become aspirational, as opposed to...we need another job we are short of money? How many other occupations diversify? We must be right lazy b8%£&D's!
 

willfarmbiz

New Member
Location
Bristol
Had some in my mothers greenhouse, wasn't convinced when I said they were tomatoes :whistle: cut them up just as they flowered..... Had a funny smell in her airing cupboard for a while after that.
Edit: are you looking for some crazy ased schemes or the most successful? What criteria do you go on? Its not like the country file calander is it?

Hi @Jackson4 Interesting to hear about the crazy schemes as well as the successful ones too! Anything which can inspire a landowner to generate additional income to subsidise their main business. We've got a pretty comprehensive selection already being covered at the event this week (check out the speakers and exhibitors at www.thefarmingshow.co.uk) - but always keen to hear about any other ideas too. Have you done any diversification projects (besides the enterprise in your mothers greenhouse)?
 

Jackson4

Member
Location
Wensleydale
Well yes i'm a tenant farmer so have the unfortunate problem of paying a rent. Although the whole farm is to be sorted out first as it has never been a sheep farm, that in itself could occupy all my time for the next 5 years.
I have always liked french cider and also west country cider so i planted a cider orchard, about 230 trees on mm106 stocks.
I spent alot of time travelling in France as a youngster, and then holidays.. to France and somerset, gathering ideas (ehhm tasting sessions)
There isnt anybody i'm aware of producing French cider here, sweet, naturally slowly fermented by the process they call 'defecation'! We call it keeving. They also use very high tannin cider apples which can give taste anywhere from bacon to leather, smoke etc.... lovely:hungry: So i have planted some west country apples, some french and some heritage or thought lost cider apples.
Of course there is no competition here at all and we get alot of holiday makers as its a beautiful part of the world.
We also keep kune kune pigs and sell the meat direct... they eat the grass under the apple trees and it seems a good combination!
These are low cost ways of diversifying... i bought the rootstocks and scions and grafted the trees myself for a £1. Pigs just eat grass. If i ever get the farm sorted i may actually begin a business breeding kunes off grass as nobody seems to be doing it. But thats a way off yet and i'd need a willing landlord:D
 

Osca

Member
Location
Tayside
Well yes i'm a tenant farmer so have the unfortunate problem of paying a rent. Although the whole farm is to be sorted out first as it has never been a sheep farm, that in itself could occupy all my time for the next 5 years.
I have always liked french cider and also west country cider so i planted a cider orchard, about 230 trees on mm106 stocks.
I spent alot of time travelling in France as a youngster, and then holidays.. to France and somerset, gathering ideas (ehhm tasting sessions)
There isnt anybody i'm aware of producing French cider here, sweet, naturally slowly fermented by the process they call 'defecation'! We call it keeving. They also use very high tannin cider apples which can give taste anywhere from bacon to leather, smoke etc.... lovely:hungry: So i have planted some west country apples, some french and some heritage or thought lost cider apples.
Of course there is no competition here at all and we get alot of holiday makers as its a beautiful part of the world.
We also keep kune kune pigs and sell the meat direct... they eat the grass under the apple trees and it seems a good combination!
These are low cost ways of diversifying... i bought the rootstocks and scions and grafted the trees myself for a £1. Pigs just eat grass. If i ever get the farm sorted i may actually begin a business breeding kunes off grass as nobody seems to be doing it. But thats a way off yet and i'd need a willing landlord:D
When you decide to diversify into running courses on cider making, let me know, and I will be your first client.
 

Jackson4

Member
Location
Wensleydale
When you decide to diversify into running courses on cider making, let me know, and I will be your first client.

lets hope the liver survives the journey(y) my courses on cider making thus far would go something like this .. faff around sunday morning with a pointless argument against some back to front minded gentlemen (see badger cull thread) and begin to pee the OH off who wants to get on (she knows what im like)... go out check stock and gob to neighbour about farming stuff etc (specifically why our 2 local auction marts do badly compared to other larger marts with more buyers, and why one buyer bought a truck load of ewes from our mart and sold them straight into another mart.. hmmm) get to fields and check mole traps, come home at 3/4pm to see a more twined OH..she cant help me and do the roast pork you know?! Gather fermenters up and sterilise, move press into mothers garage and start pressing, 4pm and OH has to have a shower, (mainly to reduce her anger cause in a couple of hours the familys coming round for T) I start pressing, moving pomace like a man on a mission and get the 120 ltrs done in 3 hours on my home made press... Ts on the table.. leave press full of cake and go for t.. Ive been drinking wildwood whilst pressing and am soon half pee'd... other half looks and sounds a little strange:notworthy:.. hope she doesn't get those 2 bricks out again:eek::ROFLMAO:
My first course would start... begin pressing in the morning!
 

willfarmbiz

New Member
Location
Bristol
@Jackson4 Great idea regarding the cider. Being west country myself I'm certainly happy with more cider production! By french cider are you thinking of something similar to Calvados?
Your course sounds like it would be an inspiring day!
 

Pilatus

Member
Location
cotswolds
If I had a very successful diversification business , I would not be telling every one else about it on this forum or anywhere else for that matter.
I wouldn't want all farmers to diversify in to selling sex toys:ROFLMAO::);) !!!only kidding .
 
and is there any point in diversification, if you cannot run your main line of work right, then what makes you think you could run a side line better than anyone else

That's a bit of a silly assumption. There are many reasons farmers look for extra revenue streams. Not everyone makes a fortune out of farming for many reasons, should they jump in a hole and cover themselves up?
 
and is there any point in diversification, if you cannot run your main line of work right, then what makes you think you could run a side line better than anyone else

not everyone is gifted with 1000's of acres. i only have 160 acres and rely on diversifications to earn a decent wage. you have to farm what you have, i don't have much land but i have a lot of buildings and a lot of people living nearby to harvest!
 

Welsh Farmer

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Location
Wales
And sometimes diversification is about wanting to stay in farming or growing but perhaps with less of a workload as you get older or as personal circumstances dictate. We stopped large-scale commercial growing a few years ago and all the work associated with large staff numbers, supermarkets, delivery window slots etc etc and we diversified in to becoming more of an agri-research unit whereby we grow research crops in a commercial setting with our full commercial knowledge of what is entailed, but now we grow in a much, much smaller way. Diversification can be for many reasons.
 

JD-Kid

Member
and is there any point in diversification, if you cannot run your main line of work right, then what makes you think you could run a side line better than anyone else
we had 2500 acres and looked for other things rangeing from grapes /wine makeing etc B&B ,skeet shooting in an old wild west set up , golfcross (yea it's a tad strange )
talked to a few guys tied up with group set up's alot of bigger outfits are going away from the team building things as it's proved they don't work in the long term better just to give the staff the coins and the day off ..
if yer know nothing about the industry don't get in to it stick to yer knitting and only then do it out of cash if it's to supply income ummmm it's got to be a stand along set up and if it shows a better return than farming then make sure profits are invested in to the right biz not proping up sinking ships
 

Bobthebuilder

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
northumberland
just heard yesterday that a farm not far from me has been sold to a saudi sheikh, he's going to flatten the old buildings on site build 2 new houses and a new shed with release/flight pens and breed hunting hawks!!!!! now thats what you call diversification
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
whatever fits into the running of your farm /skill set/ local opportunities and capital:).....problem comes like others have said when the farm suffers....or when the diversification starts propping up loss making commodity production:banghead:
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,292
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top