Andy Reeves is a full time insurance engineer, but as the son of successful beef farmers who have a smallholding near Wrexham, his long term goal has always been to earn his living from the land, together with his bio-chemist wife Cheryl.
“Over a period of many years, I’ve learned a lot about farming through helping out my dad but having finally taken the plunge in 2012 and invested in a part-owned, part-rented holding of 57 acres near Bangor on Dee, I knew I needed expert business and technical guidance,” says Andrew.
The couple enlisted the support of Farming Connect, and helped by their local development officer, Marial Edwards, they are now expanding the fledgling enterprise, one step at a time.
“It’s always been our long term ambition to have a place of our own with sufficient land to keep our own beef stock, but we were very aware that despite my previous experience of helping out at home and a lot of practical support from my dad, we were actually completely new to running our own agricultural business.”
“Thanks to Marial, we knew where to concentrate our efforts and in the last few years we’ve spent our time wisely, seeing at first hand how things should be done, both from a business management and technical perspective.”
The couple had drafted their own business plan, so in late 2015 Marial recommended they sign up for a Farming Connect business review surgery to discuss the content with an approved consultant who would then be able to verify it, an essential step before a business can apply for technical advice through the Advisory Service. The couple opted for this service digitally, which involved a telephone meeting with Wendy Jenkins, a partner with Farming Connect approved consultancy firm Cara, to discuss their broader aims and the actions necessary to help them achieve these.
Mrs Jenkins said that this relatively new fully funded, hour-long telephone review service is proving a very sensible first step for businesses wanting advice on business planning.
“It gives farmers the opportunity to discuss their options with an expert in an open yet confidential way, so that they receive advice before they start making what could be uninformed, costly decisions.”
After the telephone review, Andrew and Cheryl were issued with an action plan which they are now beginning to implement before they decide to take the next step of inviting a consultant to visit the farm for a more in-depth analysis.
“Andrew and Cheryl were clearly committed to developing their business and several topics were discussed within the business review session. It was recommended that they seek advice on technical issues relating to livestock and grassland, as well as attend as many knowledge transfer events as possible to broaden their agricultural knowledge,” said Mrs. Jenkins.
The Reeves family had started on a small scale, buying in their first batch of ten weaned Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle. Marial quickly signposted them in the direction of a number of Farming Connect knowledge transfer events and sector-specific workshops which Andrew credits with bringing him up to speed.
“We have now extended the herd to 60 and have a much better understanding of how to improve nutrition, housing and the welfare of our cattle which in turn is contributing to the sustainability of the business,” said Andrew.
“It’s still early days for us, but having attended Farming Connect grassland and silage workshops last year, we are now much more knowledgeable about soil structure and how it impacts on the quality of grass and silage, and I am confident that we will soon start to see significant benefits from this.”
The couple’s longer term aims include extending a number of their agricultural buildings and they’ve already received a fully-funded one-to-one consultation at a Farming Connect planning surgery in connection with this.
They have also signed up for Farming Connect’s fully funded mentoring programme; they plan to complete online Personal Development Plans (PDPs) shortly and when time permits from their busy schedules, Andrew and Cheryl also plan to apply for subsidised training to strengthen their skill set. Busy times ahead!
To benefit from the wide range of Farming Connect services and events in your area, contact your local development officer by clicking here.