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A National Strategy for Farm Business Advice and Skills
Annex B: Business Planning Services
Overview
1. FarmNet will help farmers and crofters to develop a broader perspective of their business, by offering a publicly subsidised "whole farm audit" service. The service will be based on a flexible model, involving business, environmental and skills audits and an integrated SWOT analysis, leading to an Action Plan setting out the key priorities for improving whole farm business and environmental performance. Financial assistance will be based on an initial two days of consultancy support (although farmers will be free to put this funding towards a longer, more comprehensive consultancy or a shorter consultancy if appropriate) plus additional support to review progress and implement the Action Plan.
2. The service is designed fully to involve the farmer. The role of the consultant is to help the farmer through the process. This will involve challenging the farmer's business assumptions, helping to identify the key objectives and priorities for improving financial and environmental performance and helping to develop an integrated "whole farm" Action Plan. It will also involve building up a relationship with the farmer, encouraging and helping him to implement the Action Plan (for example, by signposting other sources of advice and assistance).
3. A key aspect of the service is that it is customer-driven. Within the parameters of the scheme, the farmer, in discussion with the consultant, will be able to focus the consultancy on key areas of concern for the business (for example, if the real need is for an exit strategy, this can be developed within the terms of the consultancy). To encourage the farmer to take a dispassionate look at the business and to ensure that the planning process is not skewed by external factors, the service will not be tied to any agricultural grant scheme. The application process and forms will be kept as simple as possible and the administrative/reporting demands on the farmer will be kept to a minimum, consistent with the need for some feedback and information to assist with scheme evaluation and forward planning.
4. Farmers will be able to access this service through the Enterprise Networks' existing gateways. It will complement the business advice and training services provided by the Networks and should encourage farmers to view the Networks as a natural first port of call for business-related services. The service will be complemented by workshops and other group initiatives aimed at helping farmers to develop their business planning and benchmarking skills, also supported by funding from SEERAD.
5. An important element of the service will be a greater degree of co-operation between the various agencies and providers at a local level, to facilitate coherent action and promotion. Local networks should include the LECs, SEERAD local offices, NFUS and other end-user representatives, advice and skills providers and other agencies as appropriate (e.g. local authorities, regulators). In many areas, suitable forums already exist, while in others appropriate mechanisms will have to be established. LECs and local SEERAD offices, perhaps in collaboration, would seem to be well placed to provide a focus for such activities.
Whole farm audit service
6.The grant-aided consultancy service will have the following main components:
(a)
business audit
a description of the business, its resources, management systems, financial analysis and benchmarking, farmer's objectives for the business
identification of the key issues for improvement/further development
(b)
environmental audit
identification of environmental features (habitats, wildlife, archaeological features, etc.)
nutrient, pesticide, energy and waste-management policies
identification of the key issues for improvement/further development
(c)
skills audit
(d)
integrated SWOT analysis
(e)
action plan
distilling the key issues from the audits and SWOT analysis to produce whole farm conclusions
prioritising these conclusions into an Action Plan which sets out the key next steps needed to develop the whole farm business in the preferred direction.
(f)
implementation
(g)
feedback
Benchmarking
7. FarmNet will also help and encourage farmers to develop business benchmarking skills. Business benchmarking can be a powerful tool for identifying where business performance might be improved. It is not, however, widely used by farmers, partly through lack of knowledge and skills and partly because the available data are not readily accessible and often quite complex and difficult to interpret. FarmNet will provide a simpler, accessible business benchmarking tool, promulgated through a series of workshops which will take farmers through the process and help them to compare their own farm performance in a number of key areas against the average and best-performing farm businesses in their sector/area. The workshops will also help the farmer to develop strategies to improve performance.
Skills
8. An important part of the business planning process is to consider the current skills available to the farm business and the levels and range of skills needed to improve performance and implement the priorities identified in the Action Plan. A standard skills audit framework will therefore be promulgated through FarmNet and made available to farmers for self-assessment of skills and training needs. It will also form an integral part of the whole farm audit service. Farmers will be able to access additional funding to pay for training relating to the Action Plan.
9. Additional funding will also be available from SEERAD to support the facilitation of workshops aimed at improving farmers' business planning and benchmarking skills. Together, these measures should help to stimulate the supply side of the training market, especially (by reducing the risk and unit costs) in remoter areas.
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