Transition
Johann Tasker
Editor, Transition
Welcome to Transition – the Farmers Weekly initiative to secure a more financially and environmentally sustainable future for your farm business.
Farmers are first and foremost food producers. But these days, growers and livestock producers do much more too – and generate an income from it.
Many are working to improve biodiversity, soil health, air and water quality – and storing carbon to help mitigate the impact of climate change.
By pooling all our knowledge, the Farmers Weekly Transition hub aims to show how this can be achieved – and the pitfalls that should be avoided.
We are grateful to our Transition Farmers and to our Transition Partners who have agreed to share their experiences, expertise and advice.
Our Transition Partner Network
The Farmers Weekly Transition Partner Network is a UK-wide community of farmers, industry stakeholders and influencers working together to secure a sustainable future for your farm business.
Our Transition Farmers - follow them on their journey
James MacCartney Rutland
Farm size: 162ha
Enterprises
Beef and sheep
Transition goals
- Reducing disease in sheep
- Being better than net zero
- Establishing herbal leys
Vaughan Hodgson Cumbria
Farm Size: 244ha
Enterprises
Cereals (142ha), grassland (100ha), 120,000 broilers
Transition goals
- Supporting the next generation
- Replacing lost BPS income
- Adapting to uncertain weather
Alan Steven Fife
Farm size: 138ha
Enterprises
Potatoes, brussels sprouts, parsnips, malting barley
Transition goals
- Reducing cultivations
- Improving soil health
- More resilient rotations
Rachel & Richard Risdon Devon
Farm size: 151ha
Enterprises
Grass-fed dairy (300 cows on 151ha)
Transition goals
- Securing adequate labour
- Better understanding ELM
- Reducing carbon footprint
Andy Bason Hampshire
Farm size: 800ha
Enterprises
Winter wheat, spring barley, spring beans, oats, linseed and OSR
Transition goals
- 30% cut in carbon emissions
- Establish 10ha of agroforestry
- Establish 10ha of woodland
Eddie Andrew Sheffield
Farm size: 73ha
Enterprises
Dairy, milk delivery service, ice cream parlour and farm shop
Transition goals
- Co-operating to reduce costs
- Establishing a new dairy
- Reducing carbon footprint
Beth Speakman Essex
Farm size: 275ha
Enterprises
Mixed arable, beef and sheep
Transition goals
- Bridging income gap
- Fully diversified business
- Widening the rotation
Duncan Blyth Norfolk
Farm size: 2,650ha
Enterprises
Cereals, OSR, sugar beet, pulses, feedstock and woodlands
Transition goals
- Improve soil heath
- Develop natural capital revenues
- Achieve carbon net zero by 2030
Ed Shuldham Wiltshire
Farm size: 1,800ha
Enterprises
Cereals, forage and grain maize, renewables and diversifications
Transition goals
- Help shape SFI through pilot
- Make more use of data
- Take natural capital opportunities
Kate and Vicky Morgan East Yorkshire
1,700 breeding sows
Enterprises
Weaning and finishing 1,000 pigs a week with local B&B deals
Transition goals
- Facilitate change in supply chain
- Gain more control of future
- Diversify
Fergal Watson County Down
Farm size: 285ha
Enterprises
170-cow suckler herd (Herefords and Stabilisers); beans, wheat, spring barley, oats
Transition goals
- Recruiting and retaining farm staff
- Restructuring suckler herd
- Improving business resilience
Andrew McFadzean Ayrshire
Farm size: 285ha
Enterprises
Rearing and finishing 350 beef cattle; wheat, beans, barley and fodder beet
Transition goals
- Increase cattle numbers and slash finishing time
- Reduce dependence on inputs
- Improve grassland and access
Irwel Jones Carmarthenshire
Farm size: 375ha
Enterprises
Sheep – 950 ewes on owned land, 550 on rented area; suckler cows and followers; root crops
Transition goals
- Extend and manage natural woodland
- Plant hedgerows for biodiversity
- Rely less on volatile inputs
Tom Fairfax Northumberland
Farm size: 475ha
Enterprises
Winter and spring wheat, short-term leys, Angus and Shorthorn cattle, Texel and Suffolk mules, Easycare and Exlana sheep, agroforestry
Transition goals
- Rebuilding the productive power of the soil before
- Enhancing agroforestry around the estate in a holistic, whole-farm approach
- Creating a local food hub
Matthew Williams Shropshire
Farm size: 1,100ha
Enterprises
Cereals, oilseed rape, winter beans
Transition goals
- Improve profitability and margins
- Continue to improve soil health
- Control and optimising input use
Lucy Eyre Powys
Farm size: 51ha
Enterprises
Lleyn sheep, British White cross Hereford cattle, pigs
Transition goals
- Strike the right balance of livestock numbers
- Reduce inputs and maximise the use of grass
- Re-establish direct meat sales to customers