MORE than 50 farmers attended The Farmer Network’s first Farm for the Future welcome meeting at the Hired Lad, Penrith on Monday evening.

The Network is delivering this Defra funded programme on behalf of the Prince’s Countryside Fund. Through a series of workshops and on- to-one support, the programme aims to support farmers during the agricultural transition.

The meeting was led by the Network’s Senior Project Manager, Veronica Waller, who began by running through the proposed changes to farm support payments, including the phase out of the Basic Payment Scheme and what is known so far about the new Environmental Land Management Schemes and other grants and schemes.

After a Q&A session, Vanessa then outlined the support available to farmers through the Farm for the Future programme. This includes two workshops covering business skills and planning for future environmental schemes plus one to one support to help farmers consider their options for the future.

Veronica said, “the fact that so many farmers turned up clearly shows that the future of farming is now in everyone’s thoughts. This is exactly the right time to start the process of planning for the future and our programme is designed to support farmers through this process.”

For those not able to attend the face to face welcome meetings, the Farmer Network is organising a welcome meeting on Zoom on Tuesday, November 2 at 7pm. For more information please call the Network on 01768 868615 or email admin@thefarmernetwork.co.uk or visit: https://www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/how-we-help/family-farm-businesses/defra-future-farming/