Farm Support Groups Initiative

The Royal Countryside Fund is committed to helping Farm Support Groups across the UK to ensure family farms can access locally available, practical help, and opportunities to work together.

Farm Support Groups are deeply rooted within the farming communities they serve.

These local organisations are always there for farmers, providing easily accessible support and new opportunities. In 2019, feedback from our farmer networks conference showed there was a need for a central coordinator to allow these groups to share knowledge and ease collaboration. Over the past seven years, we’ve created a network of more than 40 Farm Support Groups across the UK, helping these incredible organisations to better collaborate and share knowledge, best practice and advice with each other.

members in our Farm Support Groups Initiative, reaching farmers and rural communities across the UK.

National Directory of Farm and Rural Support Groups

The directory lists regional, national and membership organisations which can provide support, advice and guidance to farming and rural communities. It also signposts to support for farmers in crisis.

Become a member

A key characteristic of Farm Support Groups is that they focus on their immediate localities; they are farmer-led, responding to immediate needs in their area. To become a member:

Your Farm Support Group should be a locally focused, legally constituted organisation.
Your annual running costs should be under £500,000.
You should have a minimum service/support offer, such as a helpline, training and social activities.
You should have employed staff and/or volunteers.
A minimum of 50% of the activities/support offered should be targeted at those working in agriculture and their families.

Membership benefits

Invitations to apply to grant funding rounds from the RCF.
Inclusion of articles in, and receipt of, our quarterly newsletter.
Invitations to events, including the annual RCF Farm Support Groups Conference.
Training opportunities and regular free online seminars.
A listing in the National Directory of Farm and Rural Support.