Velourt confirms 20% cut in contract farming operation

Farming management company Velcourt has announced a significant strategic restructure, serving notice on some of its contract farming arrangements as it braces for continued pressures in the UK arable sector.

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In a statement, Nick Shorter, chief executive of Velcourt Group, said the UK had endured “three incredibly difficult years for arable farming”, including in 2025 “some of the worst weather‑related yield impact in 25 years”.

Velcourt also cited inflation, the removal of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), the temporary closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in England, and depressed commodity markets as compounding difficulties for the combinable crops sector.

Under the planned restructure, Velcourt will issue termination notices on about 20% of its management contracts.

It is understood this will affect about 10,500ha, given that Velcourt managed some 52,000ha for harvest 2025 on behalf of landowners across the UK.

Mr Shorter says the move is designed to take effect ahead of harvest 2027, targeting those farms where “underlying land type, recent history and projected budgets show too high levels of risk in the current market with no underlying subsidy support”.

He said the decision was a necessary adaption to what he called “an unsupported world” in which the arable industry must reorganise to survive.

Velcourt aimed to be “at the vanguard of that change” by making these adjustments proactively. He stressed that the affected operations often already operated with some of the industry’s “lowest operating costs”, yet still carried excessive risk.

Profit decline

Velcourt, founded in 1967, is the UK’s largest farm management company. It manages farms on behalf of landowners, covering arable, livestock and consultancy services.

Known for its science-led, independent approach, Velcourt conducts on-farm trials focused on cutting-edge agricultural R&D.

It also pioneered one of the UK’s first formal farm manager training schemes, now a recognised route into professional farm management.

Wholly owned by current and former management, the group has an annual turnover of £43m.

However, its directors’ report for the year ended 30 September 2024 shows Velcourt made a loss of £1.03m. This followed a loss of £1.24m in 2023.

NFU response

Commenting on Velcourt’s announcement, Jamie Burrows, chairman of the NFU Combinable Crops Board, said: “It’s sad news, especially for a business that prides itself on efficiencies and scale.

“The challenging climate in the arable sector means even [Velcourt] can’t make some of their land profitable.

“This really highlights the tough position we’re in. There are only so many ways to split a loss between two businesses – between the farmer and the contractor.”