News:
| Winners All Round For Share Farming |
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He’s got three times as many cows on his farm as he had last year... and has a far easier life to go with them! That is the situation Francis Harcombe finds himself in thanks to a decision to enter into a share farming agreement with another dairy farmer – instead of reluctantly selling-up his 100 cows It is a decision that has resulted in a win-win scenario all-round – Francis gets to keep cows on his farm; his business partners Andrew Fletcher, David Heath and Geoff Booth get to expand their business, and First Milk gets the milk from 300 cows, rather than lose it from 100. “I’m a fourth generation farmer and didn’t want to sell-up but I did want to take life a little easier,” said Francis, who farms 650 to 700 acres at Hanley Castle, near Worcester A partnership farming solution seemed to be the perfect way forward and he got in touch with P&L agri-consultants, who, in-turn, introduced him to Andrew, David and Geoff . They actively look for partnership opportunities with other dairy farmers and supply the cows, finance for investment and the management to run the business. All four got on well and decided the best way forward was to enter into a Limited Liability Partnership. Andrew immediately decided he wanted to increase the herd size from 100 cows to 300, so he and Francis decided to invest £250,000 in a new dairy, including new buildings and a new 24:48 parlour. Andrew recruited the new herdsman, two members of staff from the farm were retained, and cows from a herd in Cheshire were duly acquired. All that was left was the small but vitally important matter of who to sell the milk to! Because the business was effectively new, there was no contractual obligation towards First Milk. Although Francis had always been loyal to a co-operative and to First Milk, he wasn’t making the decision over which milk buyer to go with. “That was Andrew, David and Geoff’s decision,” he said. “They run the business, it was their call. They could have supplied any business they liked.” But after an assessment of the figures and options for other buyers, the most attractive payer for the largely autumn calving herd was First Milk. “That’s where the best sums came out,” said Francis. “Six months on and the new arrangement is going very well,” he said. “Andrew, David and Geoff are driving the business forward, but I’m still involved in the decision making. I also get to feed and look after the cows sometimes, which I enjoy. I’m still associated with the farm, and still involved, but I don’t have the pressure. It’s the ideal scenario for me.” David said that careful consideration was given to the decision about where to sell the milk. “We looked at a number of factors but ultimately we chose First Milk because as well as financial benefits, we also liked the fact that our share farming agreement mirrors First Milk’s co-operative ethos. We are always looking to work with other farmers in the same way that we work with Francis,” he added. |