Launching our support programme for Norfolk farmers

Bringing together the farming community from across Norfolk to highlight the PCF’s work, the event included speakers from the PCF, including PCF Ambassador and former England Rugby player Tom Youngs, as well as Nathan Walker, Farm Environment Adviser for Norfolk FWAG, the PCF’s delivery partner for the programme in Norfolk. 

Funded by Defra, the Farm for the Future programme is the PCF’s free business and environment programme in England, which helps farmers to access the opportunities provided by changes in agricultural policy, and overcome the challenges posed by these changes. The locally delivered programme by trusted partners takes a whole farm and family approach to help understand more about current policy changes and how they will affect the farm business, provide tools and advice to help make changes, and understand how to practically improve the management of a farmed environment. 

At the event, Tom Youngs introduced himself, saying: “We are a fourth-generation family farm and I now run things with my cousin George. We have just shy of 2000 acres now. The one thing we’ve all done, as a lot of us are doing, is diversification.” 

Speaking about his connection with the PCF, he said: “I think this charity, what it does for young people is huge. I think the more people we can encourage into farming because it’s a difficult industry to get into. The more people we can encourage into it the better – because they are the future” 

Commenting on the Farm for the Future programme, Keith Halstead, Executive Director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said: “We’ve helped over 2,500 family farms across the UK, and here in Norfolk, we have established a partnership with Norfolk FWAG to be our local delivery partner for Farm for the Future.  The programme is achieving some fantastic results with 95% of those participating, often the harder to reach farmers, feeling more confident about how they go forward, given the future uncertainties created by the current agricultural transition. And over 90% of participants reported feeling more connected to their community, which to me is so important as it addresses isolation which is so prevalent with smaller farms.”