Farm Business Consultants & Farming Specialists
Successful farming businesses rely on good decisions, sound financial planning and access to the right specialist advice when it's needed.
Our experienced farm business consultants work with dairy farmers, livestock farmers and agricultural businesses to improve performance, identify opportunities and build stronger, more sustainable farming businesses.
Alongside our own team of independent farm consultants, we work with a carefully selected network of farming professionals and specialists. This enables us to take a joined-up approach to the challenges facing modern farms, bringing together business, financial, technical and practical expertise where required.
Whether you need ongoing farm business consultancy, specialist dairy advice or help with a particular challenge or project, we can help you identify the right way forward.
Independent Farm Consultants Focused on Your Business
Every farm is different. The right solution for one farming business may be completely unsuitable for another.
Our role as independent farm business consultants is therefore to understand your farm, your figures, your objectives and the practical realities of the business before recommending a course of action.
We can help with areas including:
- Farm business reviews and strategic planning
- Business budgeting and cashflow forecasting
- Farm profitability and performance
- Benchmarking and enterprise costings
- Business growth and development
- Farm succession planning
- Labour and machinery policies
- Contract farming arrangements
- Agricultural tenancies
- Farm grants and funding
- Nutrient, manure and environmental planning
- Dairy herd performance and management
By combining practical agricultural knowledge with detailed business analysis, our farm consultants can help you understand where your business is performing well, where improvements may be possible and which changes are likely to deliver the greatest benefit.
Specialist Dairy Farm Consultants
Dairy farming is a particularly important part of our consultancy work.
Our dairy farm consultants understand that improving dairy farm profitability is rarely about changing one thing in isolation. Herd performance, milk production, feed costs, fertility, labour, infrastructure, borrowing and cashflow can all affect the financial performance of the business.
We work with dairy farmers to examine both the technical and financial sides of their businesses, helping them make informed decisions based on reliable information rather than assumptions.
Our dairy consultancy can include advice on:
- Dairy business performance and profitability
- Milk production and milk from forage
- Dairy herd fertility
- Feed and nutrition costs
- Forage quality
- Mastitis and herd health performance
- Business benchmarking
- Investment and expansion
- Labour efficiency
- Buildings and infrastructure
- Cashflow and financial planning
- Long-term dairy business strategy
The objective is not simply to increase output, it's to help create a dairy farming system that works financially, practically and personally for the people running it.
Bringing Together the Right Farming Expertise
Farm businesses increasingly have to consider financial, environmental, technical and regulatory issues at the same time. A business decision may involve much more than simply deciding whether an investment looks profitable. Planning, taxation, finance, nutrition, animal health, environmental requirements, land management and infrastructure may all need to be considered. We work with a network of carefully selected farming professionals who can provide complementary specialist expertise where required. Areas of specialist support include:
Agronomy
Crop and grassland performance can have a significant impact on the overall efficiency of a farming business. Where specialist agronomy advice is required, we can work alongside appropriate professionals as part of the wider farm strategy.
Ruminant Nutrition
Nutrition has a direct relationship with animal performance, health and farm profitability. Specialist ruminant nutrition advice can be incorporated into wider dairy and livestock business planning where appropriate.
Farm Buildings and Design
Investment in new or improved farm buildings can have long-term consequences for labour efficiency, animal welfare, future expansion and borrowing.
Our farm consultants can help assess the business case for investment while working alongside appropriate farm building and design specialists.
Farm Planning
New buildings, infrastructure, diversification and other developments may require specialist planning advice. We can work with relevant professionals while helping ensure proposals fit the wider objectives of the farming business.
Land and Estate Management
Land occupation, ownership and management can have significant implications for a farm business. Appropriate land and estate expertise can therefore form an important part of strategic business planning.
Farm Accountancy and Financial Advice
Good financial information is fundamental to good farm management.
We can work alongside farming accountants and financial professionals so that business plans, budgets, investment decisions and longer-term strategies are considered using reliable financial information.
Veterinary and Herd Health
Animal health has both a welfare and financial impact. Where veterinary input is required, our dairy farm consultants can work alongside your farm vet and other specialists to ensure herd health considerations form part of the wider business strategy.
Genetics
Breeding decisions can influence herd performance for many years. Appropriate genetics advice can therefore be considered alongside longer-term dairy herd and business objectives.
Milking Machine Testing and Assessment
Milking performance, udder health, labour efficiency and milk quality can all be affected by the milking system. Specialist testing and assessment can be brought into the wider review of dairy farm performance where necessary.
Farm Business Consultancy - Our Joined-Up Approach
One of the advantages of working with our team at Douglas Green Consulting is that you don't necessarily have to look at each issue within your farming business separately. Our experienced farm business consultants can take an overview of your farming business and help coordinate specialist advice around your wider objectives.
For example, a dairy farmer considering expansion may need to assess:
- whether additional cows will genuinely improve profitability
- the effect on labour requirements
- additional feed and forage requirements
- slurry storage and nutrient management
- building and planning requirements
- borrowing and cashflow
- herd health implications and the likely return on investment
Looking at these questions together provides a much clearer picture than considering each issue independently. That's where our experienced farm consultancy can add real value to your business.
Farm Consultants Supporting Businesses Across the UK
Our farm consultants and dairy farm consultants support farming businesses across the UK from our base in Wiltshire, with particularly strong coverage throughout the South and South West of England including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Devon, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, as well as South Wales.
Depending on the type of advice required, consultancy can include farm visits, face-to-face meetings and remote support.
Why Use an Independent Farm Business Consultant?
Running a farm can make it difficult to stand back and objectively assess the business. An independent consultant provides an external perspective and can challenge assumptions, analyse performance and help identify options that might otherwise be overlooked.
A good farm consultant should not simply tell you what to do. Their role is to provide the information, analysis and practical experience needed to help you make better-informed decisions. At Douglas Green Consulting, our approach combines farm business management, financial analysis and practical agricultural knowledge with access to additional specialist expertise when required. The result is advice focused on the overall success and resilience of your farming business.
Here are answers to our most frequently asked questions, which we hope you'll find helpful:
A farm business consultant helps farmers analyse the financial and practical performance of their business and make informed decisions about its future. This can include budgeting, benchmarking, business planning, investment decisions, succession, expansion, labour, machinery, tenancies and improving profitability.
Yes. Dairy farming is a core area of expertise for Douglas Green Consulting. Our dairy farm consultants work with farmers on both the technical and financial aspects of dairy farming, including herd performance, profitability, benchmarking, fertility, forage, investment and long-term business planning.
Yes. Effective farm consultancy frequently involves working alongside your existing professional advisers. We can also draw upon additional farming specialists where expertise is required.
No. Although we have extensive experience in dairy farming, our farm business consultants advise a range of agricultural farming businesses also.
Yes. Our farm consultancy services can be tailored to your needs for your individual farm, from advice on a particular decision or project through to ongoing farm business management and performance reviews.
