Farming Road Map outlines Defra’s view of the future of agriculture
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Last week Defra published its Farming Road Map – a document that brings together the many strands that influence agriculture with the aim of providing direction to the sector to 2050 and beyond.
The Road Map has been greeted with mixed views; some see it as unambitious and lacking ‘teeth’, others point to the new reality for agriculture which is that is a post subsidy era Defra might not have the influence or take the responsibility for agriculture it once did.
Defra describes it as ‘a flexible framework for the sector’s journey towards 2050, recognising that there is no single route to success’. This loosening of influence puts the onus back on agricultural businesses to master their own destiny.
The one defining feature I have seen across the successful businesses I encounter is that they have a clear purpose with measurable goals. These goals are normally a mixture of financial forecasts and safety and regulatory requirements (both essential). Then when these goals are defined moving towards the harder to measure, like environmental and social and for farming businesses, structural.
Setting these goals is the hardest, theoretically not very hard, thing you are likely to do. It is the sharing and acknowledgement of aiming for a target you might miss – it could be evidence of your failure, and this puts people off. Failing to set a goal for your business is a trap, if you don’t have a goal, you won’t fail so you won’t get upset.
This can be nothing more than failure to acknowledge the truth and the deference of important decisions, a deference that the industry has been more able to afford when the Government was there with financial support mechanisms.
Setting own goals
However, if you do have a goal, you have a direction – it acts as your compass. Some people have their goals set for them, borrowing money will set your goals for you (you must make those payments or impress those investors!). Your goals will rarely be accurate in the early days – you may decide some are flexible while others are set in stone. But once you get into the habit of setting them, revising them, beating some, failing at others you will start to see the benefits and understand more about yourself, your team and your business.
Now, is the time for agricultural businesses to have honest conversations about what their goals are, and the Growth Hub is here to support you in this process.
Article by Will Wilson, Business Growth Adviser (Rural).
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Lesley van Dijk