There are huge risks taken when operating any business but farming does seem to involve more than others as it is dependent on many external factors such as the government and the weather. To maintain and build a sustainable and successful business it is therefore vital to manage this risk to enable it to be reduced and not to distort decision making.
This report is structured around the various types of risk that threaten farming businesses such as production risk involving the choice of crop varieties linking to price risk. Other types are developed discussing the importance that they play and the associated solutions available to help reduce the risk businesses face. Various risk management tools are recommended for each type such as using specialists for areas of the business that the farmer may not be entirely familiar with or employing a marketer to help market products from a collection of farms to assist in improving the prices and thus the margins received for their commodities.
The author travelled to Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand to compile this report.
Change within UK agriculture is occurring at an alarming rate at the moment with some adapting and using this as an advantage to build competitiveness whilst others fall behind unable to embrace the new concepts required to continue the business profitably.
As a result this report shows how farmers often do not recognise the issues that really need resolving when undertaking a period of change such as leadership and the ability to manage people. The author investigates UK's poor response to the changing trading environment showing significant problems including of a lack of motivation to change the operations possibly because of older generations still interfering in the business. The author then analyses other countries and how they have adjusted to change such as in California where constant measurement of the enterprises by their contribution per limiting factor assesses regularly whether the business strategy requires alteration. The conclusion focuses on the need for more information and better utilisation of staff within the change process, with recommendations made.
The author travelled to Japan, New Zealand and the USA to conduct this report.
Fast growing and expanding businesses are often linked to the personalities of the people behind them.
This report analyses the type of people who farm, why they far, how their business and personal lives integrate and how they progress and develop themselves and their business to respond to the changes in the faming industry. The author therefore analyses the term success, as this is very different depending upon whose perspective it is from. The importance of knowing your purpose for existence with relation to both the individual and the business itself is emphasised. The author focuses on the need to recognise the point at which to "jump-off" after evaluating the internal factors that can be controlled and those external ones that cannot. The point at which success is attained requires measurement of key indicators and benchmarking against other perceived to be successful. This detailed and complex report is concluded showing how clear communication becomes vital in achieving the "right balance."
The author travelled to Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Ecuador to complete this report.
Farm consultants assist clients to prepare for, adapt to and adopt change. With change evident within agriculture and globalisation and urban focused governments acting upon the sector it is likely that the consultancy support industries will also evolve alongside the industry they serve.
This report considers farm consultancy in Australia and the USA in terms of whether this could provide an insight into how UK consultancy might evolve in the future. Structural change within agriculture in Australia and the USA are outlined and then explanations made as to how consultants altered their practice during these periods. The author emphasises that the changes in consultancy demand that consultants use and practice through "E words" such as expect and equip for change or empathise with and ease the way of those suffering from rural restructuring. A number of trends shaping agriculture and its consultants, such as commodity business, are analysed before concluding that to continue farmers' success, consultants must embrace and equip for the changing world in which we live.
The author visited Australia and America to produce this report.
Continuous rapid advances in scientific technology have, and are, allowing many improvements and benefits to be received by farmers. However much of the benefit for farmers is often only "potential," as new technological advances often do not have the farmer in mind and therefore the wrong technology can be transferred to them.
This report shows ways in which farmers and researchers form partnerships enabling a better understanding of each other's needs and opportunities. This has been conducted through a tour across Kenya, where Kenyan research programmes, such as those conducted by the Kenyan agricultural research institute (KARI), have been targeting farmers' needs more closely and helping scientists to transfer technology from the laboratory to the field. However agricultural research in the UK is firstly reviewed, thus acting as a comparison for which clear recommendations are made at the end of the report. These include the need to form partnerships to allow all agricultural stakeholders' interests to be considered in addition to establishing clearer communication channels and emphasising the need for farmer feedback.
The author travelled across Kenya to produce this report.
The difficulties of entering the UK farming industry are all too apparent for young farmers with land prices at an all time high and the high cost of equipment and buildings. As a result many have considered farming abroad and within this report the author explores the perception of UK farmers that other countries' farmers can operate their businesses much more easily.
This report outlines the structure of the governmental system in relation to farming in four different countries, such as land ownership, average tenure prices and grant aid available, enabling a presentation to be made of the difficulties alongside the benefits associated with farming in these different countries. This analysis coherently leads to a conclusion based on the findings for each country, clearly indicating that France may be more favourable if you possess little capital but yet Hungary offers an extensive range of farm management positions.
Clare Morgan visited France, Hungary, New Zealand and the Australian State of Tasmania, on which to base her report.
Operating an effective business means achieving good financial performance that is strong enough to satisfy everyone's needs. Sustainable growth and profit are also essential, in addition to satisfying customers' needs and wants and having a balanced and fulfilled life for all those people involved.
This report clearly shows how to operate an effective business, be it in agriculture or equally satisfying customers of a different industry. The report shows how to achieve a high level of financial performance within business emphasising the importance of knowing yourself and therefore your ability to change and manage people, all important elements of managing a successful business. The success attribute of business is being market led and not production oriented with the need to establish a clear strategy with achievable but motivating objectives whilst conducting effective delegation within the management structure. This is concluded with emphasis being placed on the need to plan and understand your business and yourself, and more importantly your market.
Outside of the UK, the author travelled to Poland, Ireland, New Zealand and the USA.
To enable an industry to be sustainable and have a positive future there needs to be an influx of young people who have the enthusiasm and creative skills necessary to drive the business forward and ensure its viability. However this is not evident within the Irish dairy sector.
As a result this report investigates the different structures that young dairy farmers can adopt in different countries to grow their enterprise. The author examines what attributes are necessary for young dairy farmers to be successful such as making personal sacrifices for long-term gains. Dairy structures and policy evident in New Zealand and other European countries, such as sharemilking contracts, are analysed to evaluate whether they could be modified to apply to the Irish dairy industry. This is clearly concluded showing how the quota administration policy has failed Irish young farmers, recommending the removal of quotas and support that is linked to land and production, whilst adopting similar pathways for entry and progression that are used in New Zealand.
The author visited New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, France and Switzerland to complete this report.
Under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), European farmers were protected by the commodity price support mechanisms. However, as CAP reform takes place, and subsidies are decoupled from production, farmers will have no idea of the price they will receive until the product is produced. Therefore risk management tools will be vital to protect farm businesses from the volatility of commodity markets.
This report identifies the main risk events facing the agricultural commodity producer using the rationalisation of the Australian dairy industry as a case study of internal business risk. The author identifies methods by which these events can be protected against and thus risk minimised, such as using future contracts which is demonstrated using a US corn case study. Considerable focus is given to crop insurance with recommendations on risk protection for producers within the EU.
The author travelled to the USA, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania in order to produce the report.
Few family businesses remain successful after the third generation, with only half making it to the second generation and less than a quarter to the third. However the figures within farming businesses are much better than this and as agriculture becomes more market oriented it will become vital that the younger successors react to change more quickly.
This report reviews the traditional method in which UK succession has occurred and explains the culture and views towards this issue from other countries such as Canada where there are similarities to the UK. The author then evaluates the family with respect to the business and the impact that they both have on each other. This is concluded with the profound difficulty of succession being identified as the contrast of needs between those retiring seeking security whilst the young are ambitious and willing to take risks to implement change. This is followed by a detailed explanation of the characteristics of a successful family business and how to continue this effectively during and post succession.
The author travelled to Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
