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Click here or the below image to view October’s month of ‘Managing Change’ as part of our Time to Plan project.

View in Welsh on FarmWell Wales: click here.

As part of our Time to Plan project, throughout the month of October we will be focussing on the topic of ‘Managing Change’. Planning for the future can be a daunting process, especially in farming where we are experiencing so much change.

Addressing how you will personally deal with challenges that arise from change in the farming community will help overcome these changes and use them instead to progress. It is important to learn from change, there is no use holding on to past negative experiences, but instead to see them as learning experiences that enable you to move on from.

We will be posting regularly from the FarmWell Twitter and Facebook pages.

Syngenta InContact podcast September 2020

Have a listen to September’s InContact podcast featuring content on planning:

Doug Avery, The Resilient Farmer

Doug Avery, The Resilient Farmer (Resilient Farmer). FCN teamed up with Doug last year for the popular ‘Shift Happens’ Tour – which also coincided with the launch of FarmWell.

On the topic of change, Doug said:

“Change is really a constant. That’s because everything around us is always changing. We tend to hug the past because it is very know-able. However, tomorrow will be different from the past so we constantly need to be readdressing it tomorrow.
“To help folk engage in this we need to grow individual ability around belief systems.’ I believe I can’ kind of stuff. To do this people need to develop the strength gained from close and trusted mentors. Small adventures of change regularly taken, enable inoculation to the process. Those who fight change the most almost always struggle the most when finally, it’s forced on them.
“Finding one’s own ‘WHY’ – your sense of who you are and why you are here is huge. That’s a base. Then seeing where you want to be in the future. The future creates the present. When you can see where you want to be at some future date, your mind focus can go on how to get there. That also enables you to see clearly who you need to journey with.
“Measuring is also very important: “Where am I now?”, “Can I measure that?” Then you can measure progress and determine value or loss.”
Find out more from Doug here.

Tips on planning for change

When faced with a big project, heavy workload or period of change, things can seem daunting. But there are techniques we can use to navigate through these periods and manage our stress levels. As part of FCN’s Time to Plan initiative, we are asking people to tell us how they approach change and planning. Click here or on the image to see a few tips from FCN’s staff team.

Change for the Better!

“If there is one thing that I would like you to take away from this five minute read is that you are the master of your own destiny, and that you have the where-with-all to change those things in your business life that are no longer working for you”. Simon Bruce. Read the thoughts of Simon Bruce, a partner with Somerset based consultancy White Bruce, which helps rural businesses to plan finances and grow. Click here or on the image to read.

Managing through change successfully with AHDB

AHDB have outlined the importance of setting personal objectives alongside your farm business goals. Personal progress is just as important as progress in the farm business. Once you have these goals set in place you may want to look at changes in your business. Click here or on the image to find out more.

Responding to and managing change

“Effectively managing change hinges above all on the industry’s human component, and it is with people that the capacity for resilience primarily depends” – read the views of Jude McCann, FCN CEO about managing change, taken from his Nuffield Scholarship report from 2018 – Securing Farmers’ Resilience in a Changing World.

Click here or the image to view.

Q & A with Ian Margetts, Farm Manager at Summerdown Mint

A personal account of managing change and overcoming the challenging aspects of change with Ian Margetts, Farm Manager at Summerdown Mint.

Click here or the image to read the Q & A.

A spiritual angle on managing change

“The path to resilience is messy and complicated and unpredictable, but ultimately it’s about getting to a different place mentally and from which you bravely take steps to move forward in life as you journey out again, and into whatever is next on the list of ‘stuff to do’”.

The Rt Rev’d Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon and FCN Trustee, offers a spiritual take on resilience and facing change. Click here or the image to read.

Business Resilience with Savills

Adrian Matthews, a Director in the Food and Farming team at Savills, works with The Prince’s Countryside Fund (PCF) to deliver part of the PFRP workshops.

“Business resilience is having the ability to absorb a shock and still continue to operate. The current covid-19 pandemic has been a shock for everyone and many businesses have not been able to absorb the impact. For those that have, they have demonstrated resilience through reviewing where the business is, setting new and realistic goals and then creating a plan to achieve those goals. Within that plan there has to be a clear financial plan and identification of areas of risk and uncertainty. Building a plan is also about understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and those of others within the team.

The PCF’s Farm Resilience Programme helps businesses identify where they are currently and from this helps them become more resilient through providing a framework of goal setting and building business plans. Click here to find out more about the PCF Farm Resilience Programme. Registration closes 31st October 2020.