Advice and Training
Custodians stressed the need to build an advisory system
for farmers that was fully fit for its purpose.
A National Strategy for Farm Business Advice and
Skills was published in February 2003 and is now in
the process of being implemented.
The aim is to start offering
grant-aided advice in autumn 2003.
The strategy has several features, a main one of which
is to introduce a new, grant-aided whole farm review
service which will help farmers and crofters to make the
most of all their assets-business,environmental and skills-
to improve performance.
The strategy will also support local
initiatives to promote skills for building sustainable farm
businesses.
Intrinsic to the strategy is the principle that
sustainable business considerations cannot be made
separately from considerations of environmental
sustainability.
All the measures of the service will be brigaded and
promoted under the brand name "Farm Net" (Farm Business
Advice Network) and delivered through the Enterprise
Network gateways.
Funds of £2M per year over the next 3 years have been
allocated.