Small farm businesses across Gloucestershire are being invited to take part in the second year of The Prince's Farm Resilience Programme, run by The Prince's Countryside Fund.

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is offering this highly successful course in Cirencester, and support small family farm businesses to improve their confidence, efficiency, and resilience.

The programme will provide free business support, skills and planning tuition, and one-to- one guidance to 20 small livestock and mixed family farm businesses across Gloucestershire.

As part of the programme, farmers will be given the skills to evaluate their viability and make informed decisions about the future by using the business health check tool.

An added bonus of the programme is that it brings together like-minded small to medium- sized family farm enterprises in local networks.

Developed off the back of The Prince's Dairy Initiative, which has helped strengthen the UK dairy supply chain since 2012, the £1.5 million programme will support up to 300 farm businesses this year.

Feedback from participating farms has been unanimously positive, with farmers who have

completed the programme feeling significantly more optimistic about the future of their farm business.

Claire Saunders, director of the Prince's Countryside Fund, said: "We are thrilled to be bringing The Prince's Farm Resilience Programme to more locations this year, building on the excellent response to its first year.

"The skills training and expert advice provided by the programme help farmers to

cope with the many challenges that their businesses face, and allow them to plan for the future more confidently."

If you are interested in taking part in the programme, or would like to find out more, contact Emily Edwards, project officer at the RAU, at Emily.Edwards@rau.ac.uk

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