Cymraeg 
Farm Start Network
To help overcome some of the obstacles facing new entrants to farming, the Landworkers’ Alliance is working with member organisations running ‘farm-start’ and ‘farm-incubation’ projects around the UK to develop a network of best practice and encourage the development of new opportunities.
Farmstarts provide an important opportunity for people to test their farming and growing ideas in a protected environment, whilst building the knowledge, skills, confidence and experience to progress to their own farm or market garden. By providing access to land, markets, equipment and training, farmstarts take much of the financial risk and stress away from new entrants in the crucial early phases, allowing them to focus on working out what kind of business suits them best.
Farmstarts are an important entry route into farming, and fill a gap in opportunities for new entrants. For most people, taking on a farmstart opportunity will follow on from some form of training and on-farm work experience, and will give them a few years in which to test their ideas for real before making further steps to start their own business on long-term foundations.
To support the development of more farm start sites we have produced a guide and set of case studies to provide some best practice guidelines, based on the experiences of established organisations. Alongside this handbook we have established a network of farmstart organisations that can share experiences and support one another in the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity.
Resources:
Our guide to setting up a farmstart can be downloaded here
See the calendar for upcoming farm start events
Connect with organisations offering farm start opportunities in our forum
Seed Sovereignty Network
The Landworkers’ Alliance are working with other organisations to build a Seed Sovereignty Network in the UK. We aim to increase the production and distribution of UK grown, agroecological seed in order to improve the sustainability and resilience of farming and growing.
We organise trainings in on-farm seed growing and events to build relationships between farmers working with farm-saved agroecological seed.
See our calendar for upcoming events
Political Training and Movement Building
We organise trainings for groups of members to build skills and knowledge in influencing political decisions and policy making, and in organising and movement building.
Our political trainings are focused on building a stronger understanding of the history of agricultural policy and the ways in which political and policy decisions can be influenced. We aim to build members confidence in working with decision makers and the media.
Our movement building trainings are aimed at building skills in union organising, facilitating meetings and organising events, as well as understanding the history and objectives of the Landworkers’ Alliance.
See the calendar for upcoming events or contact us if you are interested in organising a training in your area.
