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ARCHIVE: Working in farming - business advice
Visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/farmbusiness for plain English guides on topics such as funding, schemes and grants; farm business planning; farm financial planning; and diversification.
Interest free loans for farmers
English farmers can, from 1 February 2010, apply for unsecured, interest free loans from the Carbon Trust of between £3,000 and £20,000, to upgrade to more energy efficient equipment. The loans, provided over one to four years, are designed to pay for themselves through direct energy savings. Once repaid, farmers will benefit from savings on their energy costs, as well as a reduced carbon footprint. Find out more...
As a farmer there are a number of government-funded and supported options available to you for business advice. These include:
- Business Link
- Farm Management Accounting material
- Farm Benchmarking
In addition Natural England provides free land management advice on a range of environmental and related topics. This service is provided through farm walks, farm visits,workshops and a range of other means.
- Land management advice (Natural England website)
- Natural England Enquiry Service on 0845 600 3078 or email enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk.
Business Link
Business Link is the national business support advice and information service. Business Link provides practical advice to all businesses and offers access to a wide network of business support organisations.
Farm management accounting
Defra's guidance material is designed to assist you with management accounting, including making more use of financial accounts, farm planning and budgeting. This is aimed at all farmers, including those who have not been involved with business management, planning and budgeting.
The following booklets and spreadsheets will give you an introduction to basic farm business management techniques..
Farm Business Benchmarking Online
The Farm Business Benchmarking Online tool allows you to compare your farm performance against group averages for other farms of a similar type and size as your own. This program is based on Farm Business Survey data.
More information about this free online services can be found in the booklet, Farm business benchmarking online: management accounting for farmers (PDF document, 114 KB).
Further information
See also
Contacts
- Defra helpline - 08459 335577
Page last modified: 9 July 2010
Page published: 1 July 2006