Design Consultancy & Business Planning

OFFERING FREE CONSULTANcy in devon in 2024

In 2024 we can offer FREE consultancy in Devon with a specific focus on  South Hams, West and Mid Devon thanks to funding from the district councils UK Shared Property Fund.

If you are a farmer, grower or land owner or you are part of a network of farmers who may be interested in FREE design or business consultancy for your farm land please contact Rachel Phillips for more information.

HELPING FARMS ACROSS THE UK TRANSITION TO REGENERATIVE

Our consultancy team provides sustainable and regenerative farming solutions for a wide range of clients in the UK. We specialise in combining regenerative farming methods with traditional knowledge to help you create farms that are not only viable but also mitigate climate change, improve biodiversity and whilst encouraging food sovereignty.

Building on many years of experience we have built a team that can deliver support and advice in your journey transitioning to regenerative farming systems.

We work with clients to design land use plans, through to detailed cropping / livestock plans and business plans. We aim to work alongside you to find the balance in working with the land for food production, economic viability and potential business diversification strategies.  Our whole system approach helps you to work with the natural resources on your land and how to farm with nature rather than against nature. 

OUR consultancy offers

Every farm is unique, and that is why we offer fully custom-tailored services. You can choose as little or as much as you need. We can work both with small farm cluster networks and individual farms, land estates or small scale farming. Our typical package offers of design work can take 1 - 10 days.

• Whole farm planning to create a more closed loop farming system. Including transitioning to Regenerative agriculture systems, soil and water management.

• Design of agroforestry systems, nature recovery on farms, Biodynamic systems, horticulture, including fruit production, livestock management, crop planning and rotation, small scale grain systems. 

• Community supported agriculture and direct sales marketing systems and set up.

• Small scale grain production, storage and milling.  

• Share farming and joint ventures, stacking enterprises into a farm. 

• Business and enterprise planning with financial analysis.

• Public engagement on farms 

• Mentoring and support,

• Follow-up service. 

WHAT YOU WILL GET WITH A FULL DESIGN SERVICE

MEET Our Consultancy Team 

• Marina O’Connell is a qualified Permaculture Designer with 30 years experience of designing large scale food producing, biodiverse landscapes.  Marina uses Permaculture Design methodology to create sustainable farms, she uses a toolkit of Agroforestry, and Organic and Biodynamic systems. 

• Rachel Phillips is a qualified Permaculutre Designer with 5 years experience of designing nature connection, well being and training services on farms. This is in terms of the physical needs of a site, and also the policies, funding and governance that need to be in place to run a professional service. 

• Bob Mehew can transform the design into a detailed business plan containing projected incomes and costs to help advise on your project's financial sustainability.. Bob can also facilitate setting up of CSA type marketing systems and advise on poultry systems. 

• Jack McGuinness is an experienced designer who has a back ground in regenerative farming practices with a specialism in livestock management.

• Will Luke - Dairy farming for 30 years both as a tenant and landowner. Trained in agriculture, qualified in regenerative land management, successfully Implementing sustainable practices across the farm for the last decade improving resilience and biodiversity whilst importantly maintaining output and profit

• Holly Emmens is an Ecologist, with 7 years' experience working on landscape scale nature recovery projects, ecological surveying and reporting for planning applications, including biodiversity net gain assessments. Holly is also qualified in Permaculture Design and Regenerative land use.

• Dave Wright is an experienced grower offering expertise in crop planning, green manures and herbal lays.