As we just pass the half mark on the year our rural team at Stephens Scown suggests 12 things farmers should think about that may help them to increase revenue and cut costs.

Without mentioning the ‘B’ word, it’s fair to say that there’s still a lot of uncertainty at the moment, however, there are still many things farmers can do to get their farming business in good shape ahead of the Agricultural Bill.

Here are 12 things to think about when you have your family together.

  1. Save costs by working collaboratively with neighbours. Sharing machinery for example can bring costs down significantly.
  2. Do any of your farm buildings have untapped potential? Permitted development and class Q planning could be an option to consider.
  3. Look at marginal gains and way to cut costs and increase productivity, perhaps through using some of the new technology that is coming onto the market.
  4. Look at your energy use and see if there are ways you can reduce it to cut costs.
  5. Buying additional land could be a good investment and increase your income stream.
  6. Reviewing your overall tax position is worth the time and effort and could save you money in the long run.
  7. Renewable energy could still be a good investment, bringing you cost savings and a new income stream – consider battery storage for optimising existing renewable energy installations.
  8. Get creative when you think about diversification. Some farmers have diversified into gyms and nurseries for example.
  9. Do you have any empty buildings you could rent out for storage?
  10. Think about how your business is structured. Would entering into a partnership bring benefits to your business?
  11. Younger members of the family may be visiting during their summer holiday from college or University. They are bound to be full of ideas which could just turn into a new income stream for you.
  12. Take some time to look to the future and the things which may be worth investing in over the next few years. From battery storage, which is becoming more affordable and could enable you to store energy you generate on the farm and sell it back to the national gird, to electric vehicles which benefit from substantial grants and will bring down your fuel costs.