Succession in farming is often misunderstood as simply passing on land from one generation to the next, however, like modern day farming challenges, succession is far more nuanced and is increasingly becoming a topic that is at the heart of the future farm viability. Succession at our Land Trust Family of Farms day this September pulled together the cultural, social, and economic contexts of each our tenant farms and the surrounding community. The underlining theme was that Succession is about creating a farming system where the ecology, people, and finances, can work in a balanced way and protect against the shocks and stressors of modern farming.
Creativity in Succession:
To ensure the survival and success of farms in the future, creativity and innovation are key. Farmers must think beyond traditional farming methods. For example, initiatives like the Pitch Up campaign by Kingsclere Estate showcase how enterprise stacking—where multiple businesses operate together—can create circular, sustainable business models and enhance the farm.
Succession planning must also account for unique solutions, such as renting farm buildings, running community events, or tapping into government funding to support diversification. A successful farm succession plan is one that considers both the land and the broader social and economic ecosystem.
Challenges of Identity and Roles:
One major challenge is the personal and professional overlap in farm life. How do you separate your identity as a farmer from your personal identity? Specific training programs can help farm workers and families develop this awareness, promoting a culture where mistakes are opportunities for growth, rather than blame.
The Role of Enterprise Stacking:
Enterprise stacking can be a valuable strategy to build both financial and social resilience into the farm model. At Oakbrook Community Farm, for example, separate enterprises operate under a shared vision. These businesses may even expand off-site, increasing their resilience to economic shocks, climate change, or pest and disease challenges.
Many farms shared challenges of stacking enterprises, there are many different models for this form of diversification, some more suitable than others in a given context. Challenges are particularly visible when individual business visions don’t align perfectly with the farm’s overall goals. It is important to plan enterprise stacking with an eye toward how the entire operation contributes to the broader farm success and the local farming community and its regional vision. Leadership and entrepreneurial foresight are critical here.
Independent Advisory Services and Holistic Training:
Independent advisory services play a vital role in supporting succession issues. These services need to adopt a holistic approach, encompassing business leadership, ecological finance, and community building. One organisation spearheading this approach is Huxhams Cross Farm[1], which offers training across multiple scales, helping the next generation of farmers develop practical and business skills alike.There is a growing demand for holistic, hands-on training that integrates agroecological methods and understanding, marketing, business skills, and crisis management—an essential “toolbox” for future farmers.
Bridging the Gap in Agricultural Training:
Agricultural colleges often still focus on conventional farming, which can leave students ill-equipped for the realities of modern, resilient, ecological farm businesses. More forward-thinking institutions and training programs, like the Pasture and Profit programme, provide peer-to-peer mentoring, offering critical support to farmers transitioning into sustainable agricultural models.
Land Matching Services:
Finding the right successor is becoming an increasingly pressing issues for family run farms, where often in today’s context the most obvious successor (a son or daughter) lacks interest in taking on the demanding work of farming. This generational gap threatens the continuity of farms that stewarded the land over decades. In response, organisations[2] such as Tamar Grow Local, Shared Assets, and the Landworkers Alliance are pioneering land matching services, connecting retiring farmers with new entrants or young farmers eager to take up farming. These initiatives aim to ensure that farmland remains in agricultural production, producing food for local communities and secures a future workforce of future growers preserving the heritage of family farms.
Conclusion:
Farming succession is a complex challenge that requires creativity, adaptability, forward planning and often community support. Each farm is its own individual case. As farms confront competing pressures on their land from climate change to economic challenges, the future lies in creative and resilient solutions. Organisations across the country are showcasing different models of enterprise stacking, holistic training, and land matching not as silver bullet solutions but initiatives to learn from, refine and scale up. Head to the references list below to see other organisations working closely with extensive family run farms and how they are finding ways to support the sustainability of the sector to ensure a farming future where communities remain on the land.
Bibliography:
Here are some of the inspiring organizations and initiatives that are leading the way in farm succession:
- Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes: this scheme supports peer-to-peer mentoring and skills development, providing scaffolding for farmers during agricultural transitions.
- Shared Assets: is a social enterprise that helps communities manage land sustainably, advocating for more equitable and sustainable land use for the common good.
- Apricot Centre: offers apprenticeships and training programs focusing on permaculture, sustainable farming, and holistic farm management.
- Ecological Land Cooperative: provides access to affordable land for sustainable farming, supporting small-scale ecological farming.
Our Tenant Farms (present at our Family of Farms day presenting their expertise on the topic):
- Oakbrook Community Farm: is an innovative hub of small businesses and social enterprises, practicing biodynamic, organic, and no-dig farming. Visitors can explore the farm, enjoy the footpaths, observe the cows and bees, and take part in volunteer opportunities. Oakbrook is a unique example of tackling succession through building resilience into their farm model using enterprise stacking of individual community-run businesses.
- Tablehurst Farm: is a biodynamic farm focused on local, sustainable, and regenerative farming. The farm hosts a supported living home, a market garden, a jersey herd that produces raw milk, a beef herd and more. It also has a small flour mill Fermento bakery producing sourdough baked goods, a butchery and farm shop, and a cafe.
- Springham Farm: run a biodynamic and regenerative farm with a Hereford beef herd (as of this year has produced meat boxes) a market garden, and hosts school visits to promote nature, biodiversity, and human connection and is part of the Children’s Forest initiative.
- St Giles Farm: is a small biodynamic and organic farm in the New Forest, focusing on succession through two key pillars: a small herd of Shetland cattle and a market garden that also produces seeds. They have created a farm full of biodiversity and protected areas and are now looking for the next steps/person in running a productive market garden for a box scheme or similar.
[1] https://www.apricotcentre.co.uk/level-3-traineeship
[2] https://www.sharedassets.org.uk/resources/land-match
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