Brexit poses many questions and for the agricultural sector one of the most important ones is what will happen to support payments once we leave the Common Agricultural Policy? Although the indications from the Government are that support payments will continue, they will be much more closely linked to farm efficiency and protecting the environment.

Recognising the challenges ahead, Stephens Scown have joined forces with the Rural Business School for a project with an innovative new way of helping farmers consider issues such as:

  • Technical efficiency
  • Succession
  • Increasing Profit
  • Animal Health
  • Mitigating Climate Change

Agriculture in the UK has suffered since the 1990ies from a lack of investment in research and development, with the consequence that the ‘average farm efficiency’ has fallen below that seen in other countries. The impact on a farm if you are technically inefficient has a ripple effect,  it is much harder to generate the cash flow you need to pay bills, keep the bank happy, reinvest in the farm, pay staff and family.

With the internet there is no shortage of advice available to farmers but has this advice been independently verified and is it provided in a way that a farmer can easily digest after a 12/15 hour day?

With assistance from the Cornwall Agri-Tech scheme we are developing a dedicated YouTube channel that addresses crunch farming issues through the use of 2 minute films and videos that can be accessed through a smart phone.

Why 2 minutes?

Many of you will be familiar with the One Minute Manager series of management books written by Kenneth Blanchard + friends. This series has sold millions worldwide but whilst you can teach someone to be a manager in one minute we believe being a farmer is at least twice as difficult  – hence the 2 minutes!

More importantly though in the world of smartphone usage ‘less is more’. The under 40ies are increasingly reliant on their smartphone as their main source of information – but only if this information is available in short bite size chunks. Any video that is longer than 2 minutes is likely to lose its audience before the end.

The project was launched at Royal Cornwall Show in a joint event with the Rural Business School and feedback has indicated the popularity of the videos. Filming of the first videos will commence in August ready for an autumn launch.