How visiting other farms can improve business resilience

Perthshire beef and sheep farmer and Farmers Weekly’s Grassland Manager of the Year 2023 John Ritchie is convinced the biggest improvements on his farm have come from listening to other farmers and good consultants.

“The most valuable time I spend is off farm looking at other systems, getting time to think about how to improve my system,” he says.

John hosts many events for farmers at Montalt Farm, and says he is very open. “I always say you’ve got to be critical. There’s no point coming here and kicking tyres and saying, ‘Well done, John’.

See also: Farmers Weekly Awards 2023: Grassland Manager of the Year

“It’s all about getting that conversation going about what you are doing and why you are doing it. The more farmers [who] do that, the more resilient our businesses will be.”

He also shares his knowledge and experience with other farmers as a mentor with the British Grassland Society (BGS) and Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service (FAS).

John says having someone to phone for a bit of reassurance is what he missed out on when he was trying to change his system from set stocking to rotational grazing, and switch to hardier, native breeds. It is also what inspired him to apply to be a mentor.

“Indirectly, I did have mentors because I was involved in the QMS [Quality Meat Scotland] grazing groups for about four years.

“There were 10 or 15 of us, and we all wanted to change our systems to start making money and give us more [free] time,” he says.

“We all had systems that were too complicated and too reliant on inputs and our time. We were very fortunate to have very good facilitators who pushed us in the right direction.”

Training

The BGS trained John in mentoring. The most important thing, he says, is learning to listen.

“You’ve got to listen to [the farmer], to what they want. And there’s no point one person driving change on the farm.

“Getting everyone involved in that business on board is key, because if you’ve got someone who’s not interested or doesn’t get it, it’s often doomed to fail.

“You’ve also got to be very mindful not to press your thoughts on how someone should farm. It’s [about] tailoring something that will fit around them and their family.”

When John starts working with a mentee, he visits their farm for a day, and they spend a day on his farm. Most of the time, though, communication is a quick call or sharing of a photo to get John’s thoughts on an idea.

Shared benefits

John says he gets as much out of the process as the mentee gets from him. “I find it challenging in a good way, because you’re thinking about someone else and how they farm.

“I think that rubs off on you as well – [for example,] you come home and think why am I spending this amount of time doing this task? What could I do to change that?

“It’s about wellbeing too – a wee bit of giving my time to someone else to see them progress makes me feel good.”

Mentoring opportunities can be found at:

• Farm Advisory Service Scotland 
• British Grassland Society: The BGS mentoring scheme is on pause, but anyone interested can be added to the waiting list.