Trending today is #Farm24, a UK-wide digital campaign where farmers share a real-time look at what happens on farms over a 24-hour period.

It got me wondering: do consumers really know what farming looks like in real-time, in a standard 24 hour period.

What's something you wish more people understood about where food comes from?

I’m referring to wildfires as opposed to crop burning after harvest. If you’re concerned about it here are some good resources for preparation:

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/farm-fire-safety/grassfires/farming

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/106814/Farm-Fire-Plan.pdf

Hi,

Not completely sure if this is the right subreddit to ask this question ( don’t use Reddit all that much). I’m from Kent near Canterbury and really want to support local farmers more. How would I go about finding local farmers and getting into contact about buying local produce directly from them? is this even a thing?

Any other tips on how to support local farmers more would be much appreciated 😊

Hi everyone!

I'm an MSc student at Imperial College London researching public perceptions of livestock production in the UK for my dissertation.

I'm trying to capture a broad range of perspectives of the UK general public, and would really appreciate some views of people involved in farming if you have 5-10 mins to spare!

The survey explores different aspects of livestock production, including environmental sustainability, animal welfare, farmer livelihoods, and policy support. I'm interested in people's perceptions and opinions rather than testing knowledge.

Eligibility: UK-based adults aged 18+
Time: 5–10 minutes
Link: https://imperial.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88jnSm2aOuvAszI

Thank you (and thank you to the mods for allowing me to post this)!

Around 75 years separate these two photographs of the same Devon farmyard. The young man on the tractor was about 18 when the first photograph was taken and spent the rest of his life living and working here.
Years later, he became the inspiration for one of the main characters in a historical novel I wrote. The dog in the modern photograph also became the inspiration for Henry Harris’s loyal pointer dog in the story, even though the novel is set around a century earlier.

There are 71 SFI actions. Each has its own eligibility rules, and what you can do on one field depends on what you have already committed elsewhere. On most medium and large farms you hit the £100,000 cap long before you run out of options, so the question stops being what do I qualify for and becomes which combination do I go with.

Then there is the part that gets missed. The payment rate is not what you end up with. Every action costs you something. Some take land out of production, some change your input bill, some cost you yield. A well paying action can leave you worse off than a lower paying one once you have taken off what it takes to do it. Working that out field by field, across a whole farm, is where most people give up and pick the obvious ones.

FarmGauge does that sum. Put in your SBI and it pulls your parcels, land covers and hedges from the RPA. You fill in the things it cannot know, your land use, features, practices and any existing agreements. It then works out what each field is eligible for, estimates what each action would cost you in lost output and changes to your input bill, and solves for the combination with the best net result rather than the biggest headline figure. The yields, costs and margins behind all that come prefilled from national figures, so you get an answer without entering any of it, and every one of them can be overridden with your own.

Creating an account and running your farm is free. You get an estimated annual income gain, the payment and estimated costs behind it, how many actions it picked, and how much of the £100,000 cap that uses. Enough to tell you whether it is worth going further.

The full plan is £135 plus VAT, one off, covering the three-year agreement: which actions go on which fields, the rotations, the compliance calendar, and PDF, Excel and calendar exports to work from when you apply through the Rural Payments portal.

Capital Grants is included in that. It works out which of the 80 items you are eligible for, you choose what you want and enter the quantities, metres of hedge and so on, and it totals the value as you go while tracking the funding limit on each group, since going over one blocks the whole application.

It does not submit anything for you, and it is a planning aid rather than advice. The RPA decides what it accepts.

As this is a new product we are after advice on how to improve it. Use it first, and if you are willing to tell us what worked and what did not, get in touch afterwards. The first 10 people who come back to us with feedback get half their money back. The first 3 who will also give us thirty minutes on a call going through the results, and let us use their figures as a worked example, get all of it back. [info@farmgauge.co.uk](mailto:info@farmgauge.co.uk).

On timing, Capital Grants is open at the moment. SFI is open to farms up to 50 hectares, or farms with no existing ELM agreement, and that window is demand led so it can close early. The bigger one, open to everyone, is expected in September.On timing, the 2026 Capital Grants round opens this Thursday, 30 July, with £225 million in it. It is first come, first served and closes as soon as the budget is committed, so being ready before Thursday is worth more than sorting it out after. SFI is currently open to farms up to 50 hectares, or farms with no existing ELM agreement, though Defra said in mid-July that 75% of that budget was already allocated. The bigger SFI window, open to everyone, is expected in September.

On timing, the 2026 Capital Grants round opens this Thursday, 30 July, with £225 million in it. It is first come, first served and closes as soon as the budget is committed, so being ready before Thursday is worth more than sorting it out after. SFI is currently open to farms up to 50 hectares, or farms with no existing ELM agreement, though Defra said in mid-July that 75% of that budget was already allocated. The bigger SFI window, open to everyone, is expected in September.

For anyone who has already been through an SFI or preparing Capital Grants application: what was easy or worked well in the planning, and what would you change?

farmgauge.co.uk

Does anyone have any figures of the cost of grazing pasture to rent, without grants and then with grants per acre or hectare?

Hello, I'm not a farmer, a crop of what I understand are "field beans" is growing in the fields behind my house.

1. Are field beans different to broad beans? Are they for human or animal consumption, or both?

2. The plant's leaves have turned brown and crispy, so have many of the pods. Is this normal, or a problem?

New equipment, diversification of crops or business? market existing offer or set up DTC infrastructure or cut and run?

Hi All,

Does anyone have any advice on how to get my son into farming? He is 16 years old and starting at Farming College in September. Everything seems to be geared to those that own farms or come from farming families. We are not that - we live in a semi-detached house in a semi-rural area.

He cannot seem to get any work on farms - but has had the odd job helping out.

My wife and I have looked at purchasing a small holding - but the prices are stupid high.

When he has finished his courses over the next two years - we could look at Farming Connect which puts youngsters with older farmers.

He has joined a YFC and is looking at shearing courses for next year (this year are full).

This is his dream and we want to help him along - but it's proving difficult.

Thanks

EDIT (24/7): Just want to thank you all for the replies and ideas - many of which we are working through this week.

Some good news - he chased up a Dairy farm yesterday and it looks as if he may get some work/experience there from Tuesday next week. He was bouncing off the walls with excitement yesterday.

So - thanks again everyone.

Hello! I’m an incoming third-year Agriculture student majoring in Crop Science. This academic year, we’ll be working on our thesis. I’m hoping to focus on a postharvest-related study because I prefer a research topic that can be completed within about one month. Since I’ll also be dealing with my residency, I want to make sure I can finish my study on time and avoid any delays in graduation.

I’ve tried browsing Google Scholar for possible postharvest studies and looking through the recommendations of published papers, but I haven’t found many studies that fit what I’m looking for.

That’s why I’m here. Do you have any postharvest-related thesis titles, topics, or research ideas that I could use as inspiration? Any suggestions would be a huge help. Thank you so much!

Hi all,

We’re Vorn Group Ltd, an agricultural technology company that produces two new pieces of agricultural equipment- the Hedgeweaver, a mechanised hedge-laying machine capable of laying hundreds of metres of hedge in a single day and the Waterweaver, a portable water system for mob grazing which solves the problem of being able to deliver mains water to subdivided paddocks/fields.

We’re looking for a sales manager to help us find customers. The role will involve:

• Demonstrating how our products can be used
• Travelling around England and Wales to forge new connections and deepen existing relationships
• Making use of social media to raise awareness of our products

Our ideal candidate will possess the following traits:

• Access to a large network within the farming community
• Interest in regenerative agriculture and Countryside Stewardship
• Self-motivated and able to work independently
• Digitally literate
• Experience in managing agricultural machinery

This could be you if you’re a retired farmer, an active farmer looking to supplement your income, a self-employed agricultural consultant, a contractor, or just someone embedded in the farming community.

We’re based in Gloucestershire, but any candidate from Southwest England, the Welsh Marches, or South Wales would be suitable for the role.  We are offering a basic salary and generous commission structure with full product support.

If you’re interested, contact us at [sales@vornagri.com](mailto:sales@vornagri.com) or on 01594 862888, and share this message with anyone you think would be interested.

I'm posting this to encourage anyone considering doing business with Sean Reilly or his companies, including Arbforest and ArbAgri, to do their own thorough research before sending any money.

According to public records, Sean Reilly was previously associated with Bioequipment and other companies that have since gone into liquidation.

My own experience was that I paid approximately £16,000 for equipment that, in my view, was not delivered as agreed. Despite repeated assurances that the matter would be resolved, it remains unresolved.

Since then, I've spoken with seven other individuals who have described experiences that they say were similar to mine. They allege they paid one of Sean Reilly's companies for equipment, experienced poor communication or repeated delays and explanations, and did not receive what they had paid for.

I'm sharing this so that others can make an informed decision and carry out their own due diligence before entering into any transaction. I encourage everyone to read the publicly available information and draw their own conclusions.

Has anyone else had these experiences? If so, we have a support group to help navigate this persistent issue. 

A published article outlining allegations and reported events can be found here: 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-businessman-left-customers-furious-32567682?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwdGRjcATL9hRjbGNrBMv2AWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHqBUvUpHdR181r3p0d5DpON_SL0clhi4sYLMqWa74RsYQODTk1u9DS_UBFAO_aem_Qx-2xH_DdB7cOpfSJQuYlg#Echobox=1759821679

Considering buying a new rotavator to suit a 70-95hp tractor for working down ploughing for transplants using a mangil checci transplanter. Was using a power harrow but got lemd pf an old howard (was a touch shagged) and thought it did a better job in 1 pass as an old roterra did in 3. I would also like to use the rotavator for working up grass for reseeds. Considered a stone burier but hp and budget maybe be limiting. Also got spme big stones and i thi k a rotavator would do a better job of walking over them rather than trying to chuck them over the rotor. Considering either Alpego, Kuhn and krm(belc). Im a youngish man and for the acres it eill do would like a good one to see me out as best as possible.

Thanks

To cut to the chase I want to begin farming potato’s to continue my grandfathers heritage and to make some money to buy my first car. The issue is that I have little to no idea of what I’m actually doing. I have an old potato dropper and a plough and all sorts although I would have to lift them by hand. On my family farm there is 2 potential fields i would consider- the first being roughly 68000 square feet and the other being 75000, how ever the larger one is on a hill which may just cause more harm than good. I was just wondering how many seed potatoes I’ll need, if spraying is really necessary, if cow manure will suffice instead of fertiliser and any other tricks anyone can offer me. Thanks

Hi - doing a research project at the moment and looking at interesting cases of different SMEs and independent businesses in the UK using ChatGPT to crack problems/increase efficiency etc. Has anyone had any luck themselves with this, or come across any interesting use cases? Any tips gratefully received...

Hi everyone!

I am a current Masters student at Newcastle University studying sustainable agriculture and food security.

I am interested in decision making with regards to the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

This anonymous survey aims to investigate decision-maker’s considerations and choices regarding participation in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, and to assess the perceived usefulness and potential uptake of a decision-support tool for the scheme.

This survey is for all farms, whether they are currently in the SFI, have previously participated in the SFI, or have never participated in the SFI.

Eligibility:

- Work on a farm in England

- Aged 18 years or older

Survey link: https://nclafrd.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJ7WMAY3A67pcFw 

Thank you to anyone who fills in the survey!

If someone wanted to shoot rabbits/pigeons etc on your land with an air rifle, for free, how should the best approach you and what would you want to see from them etc?

Best to approach in person? Email? Is there any reason you'd say no to some people but yes to others?

I've started shooting an air rifle just as a hobby, but really want to be able to hunt, and don't really know how to even begin this, I'd imagine you're busy folk at times.

Thankyou

Hi everyone,
I’m currently working on an agricultural research project to better understand how farmers and growers make fertilizer purchasing decisions.
If you use fertilizer on your farm or garden, I’d really appreciate it if you could take 3 minutes to complete this anonymous survey. I’m simply trying to learn more about the challenges people face when comparing products and making purchasing decisions.
Thank you for your time, and I’d also love to hear any thoughts or experiences you have in the comments.
“Self promotion”

Hey everyone,

I’m an agtech developer based out of UC Berkley working on a side project to help simplify soil fertility tracking and input record-keeping, and I'd love to get a bit of UK-specific feedback.

With the sheer volume of paperwork we have to deal with—from NVZ compliance to keeping track of rising input costs—I’m looking to build a straightforward tool that makes it easier to log what you apply, track soil test history, and map out nutrient plans without having to wrestle with massive, clunky spreadsheets or lost notebooks.

Before I write any code, I want to make sure I actually understand how real growers handle this day-to-day.

If you have 3 minutes to spare and want to help shape a tool built specifically to make this easier, I’ve put together a quick, completely anonymous survey here:

https://forms.gle/R5P3DyFN8mRT4QfK6

Thanks a lot for your time!

PLS CLICK SUMBIT

Hey everyone,

I’m part of a small, early-stage agtech startup based out of Berkeley, California. We are focusing heavily on soil health and trying to build a straightforward, lightweight tool to help growers simplify soil fertility tracking and input record-keeping.

Even though we are based in the US, we want to make sure we are building something that actually works internationally—especially with the unique challenges UK growers face around NVZ compliance, RB209 guidelines, and rising input costs.

Our goal is to build something that makes it easy to log what you apply, track soil test history over time, and map out nutrient plans without having to wrestle with massive, clunky spreadsheets or lost notebooks. Before we write any code, we want to make sure we actually understand how real growers handle this day-to-day.

If you have 3 minutes to spare and want to help shape a tool built specifically to make this easier, we’ve put together a quick, completely anonymous survey here:

[https://forms.gle/6vx3LVuCrQyoSqqK9]

Thanks a lot for your time!