FOR RETIRING FARMERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Collaborative farming: when neighbouring farmers join forces

Two farms side by side. Two farmers getting close to retirement.

Neither place has the scale on its own to attract a next generation farmer, or to make enough profit to fund a handover. Apart, both are stuck.

Together, they might not be. That's the idea behind collaborative farming. Cultivate Farms put together Ageing on Farm for farmers nearing retirement, and this is the fifth option it sets out.

How collaborative farming works

Two or more farm businesses combine their land, machinery, labour and know how into one operation. In effect, neighbouring farms merge.

Combining changes the economics. A smaller operation that's marginal on its own can become big enough to support a manager, make a real profit, and attract the next generation.

The trade off is control

You give up control of your own place to be part of something larger.

If you've made every call on your property for decades, that's a big shift. But if you're ready to let go of the day to day running of the farm, it can be liberating.

One way to set it up

Here's one way. Two neighbours lease their farms to a business they own together, and that business runs the farming as one operation.

Because each partner shares in the profit of the whole business, nobody argues about which block gets attention first.

And because the business is separate from the land, succession is simpler. When one partner retires fully, the business carries on. The land stays in the partnership, and new people can come in.

That's one illustration of the idea. It doesn't describe any district, or any partnership.

The benefits

• More scale, and a more efficient operation, over a bigger area.
• Skills that complement each other, such as finance and agronomy, make for better decisions.
• Machinery and labour are used more efficiently.
• The combined farm is more attractive to next generation farmers, who need scale to make a living.
• The business can survive a change in the partners.

The drawbacks

• You give up running your own land your own way.
• If the partners fall out, the business has to be unwound, which is costly and emotional.
• It needs strong governance, clear agreements, and ideally an independent chair or adviser.
• Not every farmer is comfortable giving up control, even when the numbers are better.
• The tax and legal setup can be complex.

Who's farming next door?

It suits a district where more than one farmer is getting close to retirement at once.

If a neighbour is in the same spot as you, the conversation could be worth having.

The full guide, Ageing on Farm, is free at cultivatefarms.com/resources.

You can build your own plan at cultivatefarms.com/plan.