Why Should I Diversify?
It is essential to ask yourself this question seriously. But only you have the answer. Taking the decision to diversify is a highly individual choice.
There are benefits, and they range from increased personal and farm family success, to improved finances, to better efficiency in farmyards, to making use of redundant farm buildings.
There are also common reasons for wanting to diversify. In the main Northern Ireland farmers have diversified because they want to:
- Boost farm income
- Face up to changing circumstances
- Capitalise on an interest or hobby
- Exploit an opportunity or gap in the market
- Create additional employment on the farm
- Make arrangements for retirement Provide for a successor
There is every reason to believe that incomes can be increased and challenges faced as long as diversification projects have a sound market base and are properly researched and planned.
However, there are also reasons for not diversifying. The most common reasons holding back diversification on farms are:
- A shortage of ideas
- Insufficient financial resources
- Lack of confidence
- Poor planning
- Scarcity of time or labour