10 minute read
Escape to the country providing diversification opportunities
With the Covid-19 pandemic transforming the way we live, work and holiday, the British public has found a new appreciation for the countryside. Alex Black takes a look at the opportunities opening up for farm businesses.
Cash in on a campsite
JThe number of working farms looking to cash in on staycations by setting up campsites has skyrocketed in 2021. And many are operating temporary sites to take advantage of the peak holiday season.
According to Pitchup.com, of the 2,000 campsites it had listed more than 700 were working farms, with 300 operating temporary sites.
It comes after a change in planning policy increased the length of time farms and other land-based businesses can legally operate a campsite without planning permission from 28 days to 56 days. This rule is in place until December 2021.
Dan Yates, founder of Pitchup. com, says other factors in setting up include concerns over falling support payments and the Government’s Environmental Land Management scheme.
Mr Yates says farmers are turning to temporary campsites because they are the quickest and easiest form of diversification to get off the ground. “Establishing a campsite is very easy. At their most basic, all you need is a patch of land and running water, which most farms have already, and some toilets, which are easy to hire.
“Crucially, you do not need planning permission to operate one for up to 56 days per year.”
And as well as being quick, convenient and unobtrusive on day-to-day farming operations, pop-up and permanent campsites can be very lucrative.
“We have had one farm take more than £7,000 in bookings in a single day,” Mr Yates adds.
“We have seen others take as much as £13,000 over a weekend and £50,000 over a week.
Pop-up and permanent campsites can be very lucrative, says Dan Yates.
Rural offices in demand
JAs people move away from the city office life, rural offices could have a wider appeal.
Fast broadband connections, car parking facilities and a well thought out office environment, alongside an inspiring countryside location, are key to attracting tenants to rural office buildings. Converting unused farm buildings into office spaces is paying dividends for beef and arable farmer Jilly Greed.
Ms Greed has created a community of businesses on the farm at Fortescue Court, Devon.
And the farm is a big part of the appeal, with Ms Greed keen on engaging with the public and her tenants about what the farm does, as well as utilising and repurposing the farm buildings.
The farm’s location, close to Exeter, is also a factor, with easy travel to the city if needed.
Ms Greed says the companies coming to the farm are making a ‘very conscious decision’ not to be in the city centre. And the venture is supporting the wider rural economy, with the farm close to a post office, farm shop and local food outlets.
“At one time there were seven people employed on-farm. Now there is only one,” she says.
“We are creating employment infrastructure and in a way seeing people come back to the farm.”
In terms of letting the offices, Ms Greed says it can be beneficial to involve an agent, although their tenants have discovered them through word of mouth or social media.
A fast internet connection is the most important factor.
“We were fortunate as we could create our internet infrastructure across our field to high fibre provision,” she adds.
“Before you start on the offices it is absolutely critical. You need to know you can get that fibre connection through.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic transforming the way we live, work and holiday, the British public has found a new takes a look at the opportunities opening up for farm businesses.
“Although most campsites do not generate quite this level of income, even small pop-up sites – which are the easiest by far to accommodate – return on average £13,000 in extra revenue per year, and many take tens of thousands of pounds more than this.”
Kim Walton, founder and farm business adviser at diversification specialists Rural Ventures, adds: “Farm tourism is booming.
“A temporary 30 pitch site with an average occupancy of 40% charging £25 per night will make a £16,800 gross earning,” she says.
“This is a prime opportunity – whether as a one-off income gain or a test run for a future venture – without the requirement to obtain planning permission or a site licence.”
Pandemic sparks rural tourism surge
JFarm businesses are tapping into ‘staycation fever’ as the British public seek out countryside breaks amid uncertainty around restrictions on international travel this summer.
Will Kendrick, account executive for rural insurance broker Lycetts, says not since the package holiday boom commenced in the 1960s have staycations been so popular.
Mr Kendrick highlights opportunities in converting existing farm buildings into holiday lets or putting nonproductive land to revenuegenerating use with the introduction of glamping pods, tent pitches, shepherd huts or yurts.
But while rural tourism offers a new beacon of hope to farmers, any new venture outside the realms of the established business may bring critical gaps in knowledge.
“Of course, getting the right permissions from the council is a top priority but the myriad of risks associated with members of the public spending time on a working farm should also be a key consideration,” he says.
It is important to consider health and safety at the design stage, including creating adequate boundaries between the working farm and public facilities, appropriate signage and separation of visitors from animals and machinery.
“Even with the most careful planning and execution, accidents do happen, so it is of paramount importance that diversifying farmers have public liability cover, as well as employers’ liability insurance, if staff are to be employed for the first time.
“Landlord or holiday home policies will need to be acquired, but this may not be adequate for the more non-traditional accommodation types, meaning specialist cover may be needed,” Mr Kendrick adds.
Is a ‘workation’ the next holiday trend?
JRising interest in staycations and the realisation that a lot of work can now be done outside of an office environment could open up a new role for holiday accommodation providers.
As people search for a better work-life balance, a new trend combining staycationing with the ability to work remotely could be one to watch in 2021.
Adam Davies, of Savills tourism, leisure and events team, says: “Known variously as the workation, workoliday or woliday, put simply it is a concept that allows you to work in a different setting, one that is complementary to both health and productivity.
Success
“Imagine also avoiding the Friday night traffic queues by leaving 24 hours early because your chosen holiday accommodation is suitably kitted out for work so your holiday can start at the end of the working day without a fraught journey running well into the night.”
Mr Davies says there are a few key points to bear in mind for success.
“Reliable and genuinely fast WiFi, good mobile phone signal that does not require climbing halfway up a hill and a dedicated workspace with a decent desk and office chair are essential.
“Additional features such as printers and a good quality coffee machine will also help the likely success of your workation proposition,” he says.
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ABIKay
The EU wants us to feel pain for Brexit.
That view might be commonplace among those Brits who voted to leave, or the politicians who pushed for it.
But it is less likely to be heard from business organisations which have consistently pointed out the importance of the EU market for the UK and which have a vested interest in ensuring ongoing good relations between the two.
That is why it was so striking to hear NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy making this claim in a fiery blog last month.
Mr Kennedy put pen to paper after a Copa-Cogeca meeting, where he said it was clear the EU was looking to show other member states that leaving was a bad idea.
And I have to say, after witnessing the events of the past few months, it’s hard to disagree with his conclusions.
We’ve had the EU spat with AstraZeneca over the Covid-19 vaccine developed in Oxford, a U-turn on banning exports of vaccines to Northern Ireland and from France, a threat to cut off the electricity supply to Jersey amid a battle over fishing rights.
None of this behaviour feels particularly friendly and all of it displays an attitude which goes against explicit EU aims of international co-operation and respect for the rule of law.
One area Mr Kennedy highlighted as emblematic of the EU’s punishment stance is seed potatoes.
The EU banned UK exports of seed potatoes, deemed to be a plant health risk, after the UK Government refused to dynamically align itself with the bloc’s regulations.
British exporters are also prevented from sending seed potatoes to Northern Ireland, because it remains bound by EU plant health rules.
Defra Secretary George Eustice said the ban was a result of ‘the way the EU conducted itself during the negotiations’, but a subsequent application for recognition of equivalence, which would have overturned the ban after the transition period ended, was also swiftly rejected.
Reflection
It is easy to say, and fair to say, that the UK Government’s failure to reach an agreement on seed potatoes is a reflection on its negotiating tactics.
But it is also true that the UK has a higher health status for seed potatoes than the EU and there has been no change in that status since January 1, 2021.
All of which makes you wonder what the response will be when the UK genuinely moves away from EU rules.
Peers in the House of Lords have already warned that tariff and quota-free trade with the EU will be put at risk by policy divergence.
There is a rebalancing mechanism in the UK-EU trade deal which allows either party to introduce tariffs in the event that differing rules on the environment or climate protection were to affect trade and investment.
Though the EU is consulting on a modernisation of its gene editing legislation, this topic has been highlighted by industry as a possible future flashpoint, with the UK already pushing ahead to change its own rules.
This issue, though, is far from likely to be the only one which causes divergence problems.
The UK’s 47-year membership of the EU was always an uneasy one, with provocations, complaints and deep hurt being felt on both sides.
But if the UK farming industry and wider economy is going to thrive post-Brexit and bounce back from the pandemic, our leaders are going to have to find a way to heal old wounds.
About the author
rAbi Kay is chief reporter for Arable Farming’s sister publication Farmers Guardian.
