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Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Andrew Powley

Andrew Powley

Andy is a team leader in the Innovation, Productivity and Science division.

His team is responsible for developing Defra’s plan to provide resilience support to farmers in England during the agricultural transition.

Farming podcast: How to access free business advice through the Farming Resilience Fund

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: Future Farming Podcast, Transition support
graphic for Defra Farming podcast resilience fund episode

The Farming Resilience Fund provides business support to farmers and land managers in the first few years of adapting to agricultural transition. If you currently receive direct payments you can receive this support and it is free of charge. In this podcast, Defra's Andrew Powley talks to the NFU's Richard Wordsworth about this offer. They are joined by beef and sheep farmer Richard Findlay.

Free business advice: latest list of providers

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Future Farming and Countryside Programme, Transition support
Wild flower meadow in Somerset

Through the Future Farming Resilience Fund, any farmer or land manager in England who receives BPS (Basic Payment Scheme payments) is eligible to receive free business advice. In this post, I share the latest list of advice providers and explain how to get in touch.

Free business advice: next phase to start in October

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Transition support

Any farmer or land manager who receives BPS in England is eligible for free business advice during the early years of the agricultural transition. The current phase of support will close at the end of August. So far, 6,600 farmers have made use of this free advice. The final phase of support will open in October and will be scaled up.

The Future Farming Resilience Fund: an opportunity for advice providers and a call for farmer feedback

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Transition support
Cattle grazing fields with mute swans in ditch

One of the ways we’re supporting farmers is through the Future Farming Resilience Fund. Through the fund, independent advisers can provide free business advice to farmers in England. In this post, I’ll share 2 new pieces of information about the fund. The first is a new opportunity for advice providers. The second is a request for farmers to give us feedback on the advice they’ve received through the fund.  

Your questions about the Future Farming Resilience Fund

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Transition support

Last week I wrote a blog post encouraging farmers and land managers to take advantage of the free business support and advice on offer through the Future Farming Resilience Fund. Some people have been in touch to ask various questions about the fund. I wanted everyone to see the responses, so I thought I’d address them in this blog post. 

It’s not too late to get free business advice  

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Transition support
Two people talking with farm in shot

One of the things we're doing to support farmers and land managers through the agricultural transition is providing free business support and advice, through a project called the Future Farming Resilience Fund. So far, over 1,200 farming businesses have received support, with scope to help many more. In this post, I’d like to encourage more people to access the free advice that's available. 

The Future Farming Resilience Fund: supporting farmers through transition

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Transition support
Turning the hay Wensleydale, Near Marsett, Yorkshire Dales 2011 Copyright Natural England/James LePage

The Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF) awards grants to organisations so that they can support farmers and land managers who are in receipt of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments. Today, (25 March) we’re inviting organisations to apply for funding.

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About us

This blog is managed by Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme.

On this blog, we explain the reforms to agricultural policy in England.

We share what we’re working on, what we’re learning and how you can get involved.

Find out more

New: drafts of further endorsed SFI actions

We’ve published drafts of an additional 14 SFI endorsed actions. Once we take stakeholder feedback on board, we expect these actions to be available from summer 2025.

Funding for farmers, growers and land managers in England

GOV.UK is the place to find official guidance and information.

Funding for farmers, growers and land managers sets out every payment on offer with links to learn more.

Get advice

The Farming Resilience Fund provides free, independent business support to farmers. If you’ve received direct payments since October 2022, you’re eligible. 

The Farming Advice Service (FAS) provide free, confidential advice to farmers and advisers.

Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) helps farmers in England protect water, air and soil. CSF advisers can provide advice on best practices and specific SFI actions that will benefit your farm business and the environment.

We’ve compiled a list of organisations offering wellbeing support to those in the farming community.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive

Thumbnail image showing link to SFI site - farmer in foreground and cows behind.

Find out how SFI can work for you.

Webinars in 2025

Attend upcoming webinars and watch recordings.

BPS and delinked payments

Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in England will be replaced with delinked payments in 2024.

Learn how they’re calculated and who’s eligible.

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