A panel discussion at this year’s AgriScot is set to explore the potential of ‘incubator farms’ intended to help new entrants into the industry in Scotland.
But what are they, and how could the novel concept help bring new blood into the sector?
Incubator farms
Farming incubators are small farms owned by a public body or organisation. They bare designed to remove barriers such as access to land, capital and credit to let first-time farmers have a go at running their own business
In Europe, the NEWBIE project – which is partnered and promoted in the UK by the James Hutton Institute – has been behind many of these farms.
Its goal is to increase innovation, entrepreneurship, and resilience in the European farming sector by enabling new entrants to successfully establish sustainable farm businesses.
Adam Calo, project coordinator for NEWBIE at the James Hutton Institute, explained: “A key strength of the NEWBIE project is that it is Europe wide. This is important, as the challenges faced by new entrants across Europe are largely similar in nature, so solutions may also be similar.
“On October 27, we are sending a delegation from Scotland, including a member of NFUS, the Scottish Land Commission and the Landworkers Alliance to Northern France to find out about a French innovation, the ‘farm business incubator’.
In this model, an entity – like a charity or public trust – holds farmland and lets it out at favourable rates to a cohort of new entrants.
“Farmers take advantage of the ability to share knowledge with their cohort, collaborate on agricultural practices, share equipment and tap into larger marketing streams than they would on their own.
These incubator spaces create a buffer zone for farmers starting out so that they can hone their business model, gain credibility in the eyes of lenders or future business partners and take risks with a higher threshold for failure.
“I am very excited that we have the opportunity to hold a panel session at AgriScot to examine the potential for implementing a similar incubator model in Scotland.
“I would urge potential new entrants to come along on November 20 to hear directly from participants in the international exchange visit to French incubator farms as they describe their experiences, share their opinions on the model and engage the audience with questions.”
AgriScot chairman Robert Neill added: “AgriScot is a unique event in the farming calendar, it is much more focussed on business than the traditional type of agricultural show and it also has broad appeal across all major sectors of the industry, from livestock to arable to dairy and more.
“This year, I would like to personally invite those only just starting their farming journey and those yet to begin, to come along to AgriScot.
We believe that the advice, innovation and policy discussion throughout the day is of value to everyone, however inexperienced or old and wise.
Other seminars planned for the day include the annual head-to-head between NFUS and Scottish Government, a Scottish Dairy panel session, as well as discussions of the Monitor Farm Programme, farm financial management, and a taste of the Oxford Farming Conference.
