37% of UK farms currently have at least one diversification project. 

Agritourism – Accommodation, activity holidays, weddings etc Property rentalsFarm shops and other retail ventures.Training (Animal husbandry training, crop cultivation training, traditional skill training)Non farming contractingThe use of biofuels, anaerobic digester plants, composting plants and other renewables

So, if you have a field going fallow or buildings which aren’t turning a profit, why not follow in the footstep of some of these entrepreneurial farm owners…

Getting muddy

Charlie Moreton and his family found a new use for part of their Warwickshire farm in 2011 when, with wheat prices low, he suggested they put on a “wild running” event instead. Designed to test mental and physical strength, skill and stamina, their Wolf Run – a 10km run across natural terrain – features 24 obstacles including lakes, fallen trees and cargo nets, and has so far seen more than 100,000 people take part.

“As a family, we’d always been sports-mad, so the suggestion made sense to explore,” says Charlie. “Rather than just a picturesque run round parkland, I wanted to offer something more extreme.”

The event fosters a festival atmosphere with its own DJ, and an Alpha Award is presented to anyone who completes all 4 events in a year. Social media was key to advertising the endeavour, whilst collectible participant T-shirts also spread awareness. “At most events, you’d get a cheap T-shirt that would shrink in the wash and you’d only wear once. I had “technical” ones made and this was and is a big cost, but it’s what runners want and far better than any advertising,” Charlie says.

A spare room with a difference

One of the most popular diversification methods for farmers in the UK is property letting – whether that be long-term letting to a tenant or running short-term holiday lets. In 2019, NFU Mutual reported that 15% of farmers who had diversified operated a property letting, making it the second most popular form of diversification after renewable energy. *3

Cashing in on the rise of the staycation, some farms are converting empty barns into holiday homes or building cottages, utilising less productive land for camping and glamping in a bid to attract ramblers and rural holidaymakers. After all, developers are often interested in buying up land so why not take up the mantel yourself and support your local economy in the process? 

In the small rural town of Dolgellau, north-west Wales, couple Richard and Laura Ellis used local expertise and materials to convert a dilapidated stone cowshed on their 100-acre LFA farm into an impressive holiday home, which won the 2016 Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Peniarth Estate Silver Trowel award for the best new farm building.

“In winter it can be quite harsh here. We’re only a few miles from the coast, which funnels the wind across the farm, so we’d need a new barn to over-winter any cattle,” says Richard, explaining that the farm is in a Site of Special Scientific Interest and so opportunities to invest were limited. “As a result, converting the old cow shed was our only option to earn extra income.”

The staycation market means property could earn around £74,000 a year letting to holidaymakers through sites such as Cottages.com with roughly one peak week in summer generating a rental income close to that achievable through a month of long-term letting. 

Demand for short breaks has raised considerably in recent years with properties which allow short breaks all year round making on average 35% more bookings than those that don’t offer short breaks at all.*4

Farm getaways are ideal for those looking to catch up with friends and or family in permanent or semi-permanent accommodation, enabling those offering the most appealing accommodation and facilities to cash in throughout the year, not just during traditional peak periods

Brewing up business

Sussex farmer Duncan Ellis found a boozy use for his empty dairy buildings after “chatting to a chap at a village party to celebrate the wedding of William and Kate” who “suggested I turn my malting barley into beer” – a chap who turned out to be the commercial director of a local drinks distributor.
Farming combinable crops with cows and sheep near the Long Man of Wilmington, Duncan uses his own malts to brew the now-established brand Long Man beer from plough to pint, with about 20% of Church Farm’s Propino spring malting barley going into the beers.

Head brewer Jamie Simm says of the self-sustained process: “Not only does it offer a level of control which only a handful of other brewers have, but it is also environmentally sustainable.” 

Whether brewing beer, distilling whiskey or something else altogether has always been your dream, barriers to diversification still exist, both on a farm-to-farm basis and within the nationwide or global perspective. some of the common barriers which repeatedly appear are. 

Internal barriers