@TheBeeffarmer: A Focus on Diversification 

 

Farming is very much a way of life; a livelihood rather than just a career. It is a lifestyle like no other and one which provides a rich and wholesome family life but, it is not always guaranteed to provide a stable guaranteed income. I was a solicitor for six years (post qualification) and was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to come home to farm. Whilst I was competent at my job and enjoyed certain aspects; at times, job satisfaction and happiness were severely lacking. 

  

I was born and raised in mid-Wales, in a town where I worked as a solicitor for my mother’s practice, and despite my mother offering me a partnership within the business, the decision was made to relocate to West Wales to take a more active role in the family farming business - I had only been involved with the farm during the holidays since a young age. This was a massive decision to make at the time and I was discouraged by family members to make such a change, but my mind was made up. I wanted to farm. 

  

Farming alongside an older generation has its challenges and obstacles which have since been overcome since taking over the business completely. I have a lot of respect and admiration for my grandparents in their methods and in the way they made their money, and I learnt a lot from them by utilising certain practices of theirs, even to this day. But times change and we do need to move on, and a lot of new practices have been adopted in the day-to-day running of the farm which has made the system more efficient and easier to run. Unfortunately, the massive costs which we continue to face swallow our profits and make the margin ever smaller. This is the reason that we have decided to look at diversification. 

  

Living on the coast of West Wales, tourism is a huge factor to consider, but the market for any type of glamping, holiday accommodation is utterly saturated. Being located within a certain distance of the coast also subjects us to strict planning rules - what we would like to do and how we do it is drastically affected by the planning department of our local council. Having several public rights of way on our farm has led to many issues with dog owners refusing to control their dogs on leads and pick up dog foul - which could lead to diseases like neosporosis in calving cows. This made us think: what if we could set up a designated area which could be opened for a small fee per hour for owners to take their dogs to which enables complete freedom for dogs to run around, whilst safeguarding our livestock? This was our lightbulb moment and after having done some brief market research on social media, we are currently in the process of making enquiries into this new idea. 

  

Admittedly, the idea is in its early stages, but we truly believe that this could become a genuinely profitable small business which could supplement our farming income. This could also mean that we limit the number of issues that we have experienced with dogs being let loose on our footpaths. Ideally, if the idea worked and the new small enterprise was successful, there is the potential for upscaling the size of the first venue with the possibility of opening further venues in other locations where we own land. There are planning issues and the matter of deciding how to run the venue after it has been set up to consider. I do believe, though, that this is a different idea which ticks a lot of boxes for dog owners and enables us to tap into a diversification project which could prove beneficial for our farming business. 

 

To discover ways to diversify and grow your agricultural business, join us at the Farm Business Innovation Show 6-7 November at the NEC. 
 

Claim your free ticket

 

Find out more about @TheBeeffarmer: 

TikTok: thebeeffarmer™️ (@thebeeffarmer) | TikTok 

Instagram: Seán (@thebeeffarmer) • Instagram photos and videos 

YouTube: thebeeffarmer - YouTube