Financial upheavals in the budget have prompted a plea for farmers to grasp the offer of free business resilience advice before an application window closes.

The Future Farming Resilience Fund (FFRF) was launched by Defra two years ago, offering one-to-one advice to farm businesses.

It was initially aimed at helping businesses prepare for the transition away from EU-era Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) subsidies, which were phased out after Brexit to be replaced by new environmental payments such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).

But experts said the need for resilience planning has been heightened by recent budget announcements including the controversial cuts to inheritance tax relief for farms, and the accelerated phase-out of so-called "delinked payments", which replaced BPS earlier this year.

Andrew Fundell​​​​ is an agricultural business consultant and partner in the Norwich office of Brown&Co, one of 16 registered organisations delivering the FFRF scheme.

"The recent announcement that the 2025 de-linked BPS payment will be capped at £7,200 was an unexpected detail in the budget and is focusing businesses on cashflow pressures," he said.

"Some businesses have used the FFRF visit as an opportunity to bring in other members of the family with a view to discussing succession which again is very much in the forefront of people’s mind following the budget.

"Another very popular area for discussion is the Sustainable Farming Incentive. The expanded offer for SFI 2024 now open means that many businesses are having to deal with multiple schemes and understanding the choices and associate implications are particularly topical.

"It is inevitable that other opportunities will be identified from the discussions and that is where a second meeting may be appropriate potentially using someone else with other skills."

Mr Fundell said farm businesses can benefit from up to two visits from a specialist advisor, tailored to the specific requirements of that business.

But numbers are limited, and "therefore early action is recommended". The scheme concludes in March 2024 and all meetings on farms need to be conducted by the end of January 2025.