Diversification: Supporting Farm Income
As the latest Scottish Farm Business Income figures for 2022-2023 highlighted that the gap in overall farm business income between the average farms with and without diversified activities widened to £38,300 as shown in the chart below; if there was a diversification enterprise that would complement and add value to your farming business, it is worth considering it further.
Diversification on a Shoestring
In my recent experience, following Brexit and Covid, due to the significant increase in the costs of building materials and ongoing recruitment and retainment challenges in the retail, tourism, and hospitality sectors, farmers and crofters are looking for advice on diversification enterprises which require minimal capital investment and very little labour.
While there is still interest and consumer demand for glamping, rural and agritourism, meat/veg boxes, and farm retail, there has been increased interest in dog parks, farm vending, home-made arts & crafts, farm tours and experiences, and utilising land for health & wellbeing activities.
Dog Exercise/Agility Parks
Dog parks have become increasingly popular with owners, trainers, and dog walkers who want to exercise their dogs freely in a safe and controlled environment, especially if they have sensitive or nervous dogs, or simply ‘off the lead’ puppies that can’t yet be relied on to come back when called.
Understandably, starting a dog park and actively inviting dogs onto your farm may not fill many sheep farmers with much enthusiasm, but in the right location within close proximity to towns and villages, dog parks can generate healthy returns on a small acreage of grassland.
Existing dog park providers charge in the region of £7.00 for up to 4 dogs, £8.50 for up to 6 dogs, and £10.00 for up to 8 dogs for a 30 minute session. 50-minute to 1-hour exclusive use sessions can generate between £10 – £20 on a tiered scale of up to 8 dogs at any one time. Closer to urban areas, prices charged can be higher.
The main start-up infrastructure costs are secure fencing, keypad entry system, car parking, a field shelter, and an ecommerce website.
Fencing needs to be at least 6ft (1.8m) tall. Good quality deer style fencing currently costs around £20 per metre including installation.
Labour input is minimal other than ongoing marketing, responding to customer queries and field maintenance which is largely mowing the grass and emptying bins.
Farm Vending
Milk and fresh produce vending machines continue to be a popular method of retailing directly to consumers; providing higher profit margins than mainstream markets and ensuring that profits are retained at the farm gate. Not only do they require very little labour input; they can now be managed remotely using a mobile app to keep track of sales data and customer information.
To keep costs down, bespoke farm retail spaces can be created by using recycled shipping containers and repurposed materials.
Farm Tours & Experiences
For more gregarious farmers and crofters, farm tours and/or seasonal experiences can be personally rewarding. By using your own skills, knowledge, and experience, farm tours can be achieved with minimal investment and can provide a healthy return for your time.
Having an online pre-booking system means tours and experiences can be offered at times of the year to suit the business.
A 1–2-hour farm tour can generate around £15.00-£35.00 per adult and £7.50-£15.00 per child. Offering refreshments/home baking is generally viewed as boosting the overall on-farm or croft experience.
A “day in the life of a farmer” where customers get hands on experience doing daily jobs on the farm can generate between £200-£450 per person per day including a farmhouse lunch. Lambing days are always popular, but you might need to practice uttering ‘deary me’ when things go wrong before you sign up your first customers!
Calum Johnston, SAC Consulting
Related Resources
Engaging with Customers – Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen (YouTube.com)
Diversification on a Shoe-String – Case Study of West Moss-side Organic Farm & Comrie Croft
Adding Value | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)
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