Cereals host revamps farm for long-term survival

Faced with falling grain prices, shifting government policy and rising costs, renowned Lincolnshire arable farmer and Cereals Event host Andrew Ward has launched a major business restructure to safeguard the future of his family farm.

Mr Ward, who welcomed about 25,000 visitors to Heath Farm near Lincoln on 11-12 June this year, has spent the past two years re-evaluating the viability of his arable and contract farming business in the face of multiple challenges.

He is deeply concerned that successive governments have prioritised environmental schemes such as Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) over food production, undermining national food security.

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“There is more incentive to create wildlife habitats than produce food to keep people fed, which saddens me,” said Mr Ward, 65, who has been farming since he left school at 16.

Following an extensive two-year review of his business, Mr Ward has made the difficult decision to lay off his two full-time employees.

He is at present unsure whether to employ contractors for individual operations or take on a farmer or a company to manage and run the 405ha (1,000 acres) farm as an individual enterprise.

“Effectively, we will still be farming, but we will be doing it with someone else’s machinery and labour,” Mr Ward explained.

Andrew Ward with his partner, Rhonda Thompson © Andrew Ward

Machinery retention

However, he plans to keep a skeleton selection of machinery to enable the farm to remain viable or to be resurrected and run by a family member if need be.

“If we sold all our machinery, it would be virtually impossible to re-kit the farm from scratch,” he added.

“By keeping some everyday bits of machinery, you only need to buy a small cultivator and a sprayer and you would be able to establish all the crops and take them to harvest.”

Mr Ward says the “perfect storm” of dwindling support and returns, extreme weather events, the continual decline in grain prices, government policy which appears intent on decimating the industry, and the fun going out farming, has triggered this major rethink.

“The minute you stand still, you end up going backwards,” he said.

“We’re being proactive and safeguarding the future of the farm for the next generations, rather than be proactive and forced to make hasty decisions which could jeopardise the very future of the farm.”  

Mr Ward was one of five farmers who organised mass lobbying events in the capital over the winter, including the London Farming Rally last November, the APR and BPR Summit at the Palladium, and the Pancake Day Rally in early March.

“These days, more of my time is being spent in London lobbying for the industry against government anti-farming policies,” he added.

“For example, I am being invited to meetings in the capital regarding the future of the industry, including discussions around the government’s destructive farm inheritance tax policy and future farming profitability.”

Forage support

The founder of the charity Forage Aid, Mr Ward says owing to the restructuring of his business, he will be able to focus more energy on helping livestock farmers navigate the impending forage crisis this winter.  

Mr Ward also runs a popular YouTube channel – WardysWaffle – where he shares insights on food production, environmental stewardship, and the vital role of British agriculture, alongside commentary on farming issues and others’ businesses.