72% of English Farms Now Earn Money Off the Field. Here Are the Top 7 Ways
In April 2001, foot and mouth disease was found near Cross Butts Farm at Whitby. The army culled John and Sue Morley's herd of 280 pedigree dairy cattle as a precaution. As one of the family told the Yorkshire Post, they were left with "an empty farm".
They didn't sell up. They rebuilt off the field, and today they have a lot of company. According to Defra, 72% of farm businesses in England had some diversified activity in 2024/25. The most common one, letting out farm buildings, is also the best paid: an average of £27,900 a year for each farm that does it.
Sue's bed and breakfast grew into a restaurant in the old stable block, then a dining and weddings business. The council later approved 18 holiday lodges and four glamping pods beside it, and the family went on to sell the restaurant to pub group The Inn Collection. In February 2020, it was reported that John Morley had bought Sneaton Castle near Whitby, backed by a seven-figure HSBC UK funding package, to turn it into a hotel and wedding venue. Today the castle's wedding listing shows packages from £6,390 to £18,130.
Not one of those businesses depends on the milk price.
You don't need a castle. But you do need to know which off-the-field income actually pays, because Defra's own numbers show that the most popular ideas are not always the profitable ones.
The Short Answer:
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Why Farm Income Alone No Longer Pays the Bills
In 2024/25, the average farm in England made a Farm Business Income of £71,200. That sounds healthy. But look at where it came from.
Farming itself, the actual crops and livestock, made just £14,200 of it. The year before, it made only £2,100. Diversification made £22,400, or 31% of the total. Agri-environment schemes made £21,100, and the fading delinked Basic Payment made about £13,500.
Read that again. On the average English farm, the off-the-field income beat the farming.
For cereal growers, the picture is starker. The average cereal farm lost £27,400 on its farming in 2024/25. Its diversified income rose 28% to £32,600, driven particularly by letting out buildings. Defra says only the top 25% of cereal farms made a positive return from agriculture at all.
Now add what's coming. Defra forecasts that cereal farm income will fall by about two thirds, to £17,000, in 2025/26. That's a forecast, with real figures due in December 2026, but it points one way.
Then there's the payment cliff. Delinked payments are set to be cut by 98% on the first £30,000 in 2026 and 2027, and by 100% above that. By my arithmetic, that leaves a farm at most £600 a year. And the government says plainly that 2027 will be the last year of delinked payments.
The pressure shows. A record 6,365 UK agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses stopped trading in the year to June 2025, as I covered in the farms that survived the record wave of UK farm closures. Nick Eastwood, who added glamping and a café to his 200-acre East Sussex farm, put it bluntly to the BBC: "Making money out of farming is nearly impossible."
Farmers have been responding for years. The share of English farms with a diversified activity has climbed from 52% in 2010/11 to 72% in 2024/25. There was a dip in 2020/21, but the share has been gradually rising for more than a decade.
Betting the farm on one commodity is risky, as I explained in why one-commodity farms are so exposed right now. The farms in this article spread that risk. Here's how.
The Top 7 Farm Diversification Ideas, Ranked on Defra's Numbers
Defra tracks seven types of diversified activity, but weddings and pick-your-own don't get their own line. So I've built five ways straight from Defra's categories, in order of how many farms do them (joining solar and other renewables), then added those two visitor businesses.
First, look at this chart. It's the most important picture in this article.
Solar is the second most popular way, but it averaged just £3,900. Sport and recreation is the third most common, and it earned the least of all. Meanwhile, processing and retail sits on the same 13% of farms but averaged £22,600.
The lesson: don't copy what your neighbours are doing. Copy what pays.
Way No. 1: Let Your Spare Buildings
Defra category: letting out buildings for non-farm use. Share of farms: 50%. Average income per farm doing it: £27,900.
Half of all English farm businesses let out at least one building, and for 16% of farms it is the only diversified activity they have. Defra calls it the most profitable diversified enterprise. Across England, that's about 24,700 farms collecting rent.
The farm that shows why is Hunters Hill Farm at Crakehall, near Bedale in North Yorkshire. In 2017, a fire led the Gibson family to stop dairy farming. Tim Gibson told the Yorkshire Post: "It has been a very difficult few years since the cows went."
So they turned empty buildings into tenants. In 2020, the old milking-cow housing became YoreStore, a self-storage business that made a name for itself during lockdown. Two more buildings became 10 office suites, four clean kitchen rooms for food and drink start-ups, and a 1,200 sq ft events room, created with EU rural development funding.
What can buildings like that earn? At Newtown Grange Farm near Desford in Leicestershire, the family left dairying in 1999 and built a business park of 11 offices and six industrial units. In around 2016, a 1,101 sq ft office was let at an asking rent of £13,500 a year, roughly £12 per sq ft. Kate Pendery summed up her own change: "I've evolved from being a horse livery girl into a business park landlord."
Farmers Weekly put rural office rents at £8 to £20 per sq ft a year, and workshops at £3 to £7. That range is from 2018 and I found no newer national survey, so get a local agent's figure. In January 2026, Cheffins reported a converted farm building near March in Cambridgeshire let on a full repairing and insuring lease, bringing in around £25,000 a year.
Even a single shed can work. At Furland Farm in Hampshire, a derelict shed became a commercial unit let to a river restoration company, helped by a council grant of up to £25,000 towards half the cost.
Field-Tested Play: Start with the building nobody uses. Make it dry and secure, and let it for storage first. That tests demand for a few thousand pounds instead of tens of thousands. Upgrade to offices or workshops once you know who wants space near you.
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Reality Check: A let building usually becomes liable for business rates, so ask what the bill will be before you sign a tenant. And ask your accountant how letting changes your tax and inheritance position. Rental income is not always treated like farming income. |
My step-by-step guide is in how to rent out farm buildings to businesses, and for more ideas, read what to do with an old barn.
Way No. 2: Solar and Other Renewable Energy
Defra categories: solar energy, and other renewable energy (such as wind or anaerobic digestion). Share of farms: 27% for solar, 12% for other renewables. Average income per farm doing it: £3,900 for solar, £19,800 for other renewables.
Solar is the second most common way, up 9 percentage points since 2015/16. But that £3,900 average surprises people. My reading is that Defra's solar line covers everything from a few panels on a shed roof to a full solar farm, so small systems pull the average down. A big solar lease is a different animal.
Mark Tory, a farmer near Dorchester in Dorset, began leasing land to solar developers in 2014. By 2023, panels covered 25 of his 75 acres, and the other 50 were still farmed. His farm was one of the first to host solar panels in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He told the Telegraph: "We will make more on solar parks than farming."
The going rate is the reason. In July 2024, Farmers Weekly reported solar farm rents of typically up to £3,000 a hectare (£1,200 an acre) a year, index-linked, on leases usually running 40 years or more. A 2025 Solar Energy UK report, based on a survey of 271 farmers and landowners, put it simply: about £1,000 an acre a year from a long solar lease, against about £100 profit an acre on a typical cereal farm (an NFU figure).
But not every farm can get one. Grid connection was a barrier respondents commonly cited, and Solar Power Portal's report of the survey said 34% named it the biggest one. Developers also want an option on your land, often for one to five years, before they build.
Reality Check: Land under a solar farm will no longer qualify for agricultural property relief from inheritance tax, Farmers Weekly's experts warn. Since 6 April 2026, 100% relief applies only to the first £2.5 million of qualifying property, with 50% above that. A 40-year solar lease can look like free money today and an inheritance tax bill for your children later. Read what the farm tax changes mean for your income before you sign an option. |
Field-Tested Play: Treat a solar option as a 40-year decision about your farm's future, because that's what it is. Get your own land agent and solicitor, and push for these terms in writing:
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If your farm suits wind or anaerobic digestion, note that "other renewables" averaged £19,800, five times the solar average. These are big projects that need specialist advice.
Way No. 3: Sport and Recreation (Fishing, Clay Shooting, Dog Fields)
Defra category: sport and recreation. Share of farms: 13%, which Defra names the third most common type. Average income per farm doing it: £3,600, the lowest of all seven Defra types.
That last number is the trap. Sport and recreation is popular, but on average it earns the least. Done properly, though, it can be a real business.
Tom and Sharon Bayston farm Pollington Grange near Goole in East Yorkshire. Wheat prices had fallen below the cost of production, and Tom wanted another income to protect the farm. In 2006, they opened Park Lodge Shooting School on their land.
By the time the Yorkshire Post visited in about 2021, the school's income had come close to matching the farm's, with better margins. But the clubhouse cost nearly £1 million once furnished, and it still wasn't fully paid off. Tom's warning is worth framing: "The levels of investment are frightening."
Fishing is the gentler version. Manningford Estate and Fishery near Pewsey in Wiltshire had about 3,400 paying customers a year in 2019, bringing in about £156,000 from the fishery and £36,000 from its fish farm. The catch: its main lake needs desilting every 15 to 20 years, at £35,000 to £40,000 a time.
For a smaller start, the Nix Farm Management Pocketbook 2026 (reported by Farmers Weekly) gives an example 1-hectare lake with 12 pegs producing about £15,000 of output and a gross margin of about £5,115 a year. Full-day tickets run from £8 to £20. Dog-walking fields are the newest version, with an estimated 3,500 sites in the UK.
Reality Check: Sport and recreation averaged £3,600 of income on £13,500 of output in 2024/25. Don't confuse takings with profit: Manningford's £156,000 was revenue, before staff, stocking, insurance and lake work. Clay shooting also brings noise and firearms rules. Talk to the neighbours before the planners do. |
Field-Tested Play: Build on what the land already has. An existing pond, a sheltered valley or a level field is your start-up capital. Run a few test days under the 28-day temporary-use rule (check with your council first), and only spend serious money when bookings prove the demand. |
Way No. 4: Process and Sell Your Own Produce (Farm Shop, Vending, Your Own Products)
Defra category: processing and retailing of farm produce. Share of farms: 13%. Average income per farm doing it: £22,600.
This is the hidden winner in Defra's data: the same share of farms as sport and recreation, but more than six times the income. Why? Because you stop being a price taker and set the price yourself.
Jack Allwood, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Cheshire, proved it from a garden shed. In September 2023, he started Mootrition (the NFU writes it Moo'trition) with a single milk vending machine in a converted shed. It moved to a much larger barn, then to a new building where the public can watch the milking, selling milk, 12 milkshake flavours and ice cream.
He told the NFU: "I wanted to prove I could run my own business." When it was shortlisted for the 2025 British Farming Awards, Farmers Guardian described it as growing from an £80,000 loan to a £380,000 enterprise, with over £50,000 in monthly sales and more than 40,000 social media followers.
A farm shop doesn't have to be your main income to matter. At Wheatacre Hall Farm in Norfolk, the family opened a shop in the old bullock shed during the 2020 lockdown. When Farmers Weekly visited in 2023, the shop made 10% of the farm's profit, alongside 30% from holiday lets and 60% from dairy.
For a full farm shop and café story, read my Roots Farm Shop case study, where a farm that couldn't afford one more wage grew to employ 50 people.
Field-Tested Play: Start with one product you already make, sold one simple way. A vending machine, an honesty box or a single weekend stall tests demand before you build a shop.
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Reality Check: £50,000 a month is sales, not profit. Food businesses carry stock, waste, packaging, staff and hygiene costs, and the hours are long. Read the permits each kind of food sale needs, and check how your shop or café could pay zero business rates before you build. |
Way No. 5: Tourist Accommodation (Glamping, Shepherd's Huts, Holiday Lets)
Defra category: tourist accommodation and catering. Share of farms: 7%, the least common of Defra's seven types. Average income per farm doing it: £8,700.
This is the way most farmers dream about and the fewest actually do. Defra estimates that only about 3,700 English farm businesses had tourist accommodation or catering in 2024/25.
The Day family at New Sheepfold Farm on the North York Moors show how it can grow step by step. The farm was a dairy farm until 2017. In 2020, Mark and Louise Day launched two shepherd's huts. They now have four award-winning huts and take more than 60% of bookings direct.
They didn't stop there. School visits began in 2022, and in 2023 they opened a vending shop in the old milking parlour, selling their own beef and lamb.
What do huts charge? At Ash Farm in Dorset, Ali and Adam Russell have four shepherd's huts on 120 acres, each with a bathroom, kitchen and wood-burning stove. In 2023, they averaged £180 a night, and guests usually stayed three nights. In the same report, Savills put infrastructure at £50,000 to £100,000 for up to four units. The report also put a high-quality hut at £35,000 to £50,000, with bell tents from £1,000.
Converted barns can be a big slice of profit too. At Wheatacre Hall Farm, eight holiday lets made 30% of the profit when Farmers Weekly visited in 2023. But Joanna Burroughs warns that when you live on site, "it's 24/7 all year round."
The cheapest way in is a pop-up campsite. Since July 2023, the Class BC permitted development right lets you run a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year, with up to 50 pitches, for tents, campervans and motorhomes (not caravans), as long as you notify the council in writing.
Reality Check: Tourist accommodation is the least common way for a reason. It's a hospitality job, seven days a week, in every season. Class BC is written for tents, campervans and motorhomes, so don't assume it covers a permanent hut or pod. The Valuation Office Agency has treated shepherd's huts and glamping pods as caravans, so ask your council about planning permission and a site licence before you buy one. And remember that £8,700 is the average income left after costs, not the takings. |
Field-Tested Play: Test before you build. Run a 60-day Class BC campsite on your best-view field for one summer. If the pitches fill, you've proved demand for very little money. Then put your first hut where the happiest campers sat. |
Way No. 6: Weddings and Events
Defra category: Defra doesn't publish a separate figure for weddings or events. The income may fall under letting buildings, sport and recreation, or "other diversified activities" (13% of farms, averaging £7,300), but Defra doesn't say which.
What we do know is that couples want barns. Bridebook's 2026 UK Wedding Report says barns hosted 21% of UK weddings in 2025 and 28% of bookings so far for 2027. Bridebook's 2026 data puts average barn venue hire at £6,343.
Celia Gaze took a run-down, neglected farm in Edgworth, near Bolton in Lancashire, and turned it into The Wellbeing Farm. The farm belonged to her partner. She wrote a 50-page business plan and was "turned down by so many banks" before Lloyds backed her.
The total investment came to £1.3 million. According to Lloyds, the farm now runs around 75 weddings and 50 corporate events a year, with a turnover of £1 million and up to about 35 staff in summer.
But be honest with yourself about the skills. Guy Taylor, who built The Granary Estates on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border for about £500,000, told Farmers Weekly in 2017: "It requires a fundamentally different skillset to farming." His venue was set to host 75 weddings in 2017, only its fourth year.
Reality Check: A wedding venue is the most expensive way on this list and the slowest to pay back. You'll need planning permission, Approved Premises status from the council for civil ceremonies, and an alcohol licence. Couples book far ahead, so if anything goes wrong, you're carrying their deposits and their big day. |
Field-Tested Play: Don't start with weddings. Start with smaller events that use what you already have: a barn supper, a corporate away day, a seasonal market. If the bookings come back, you've earned the right to talk to the bank about a venue. (North American readers: see the $50,000 lesson from Ohio's wedding barn wars.) |
Way No. 7: Pick-Your-Own and Visitor Experiences (Flowers, Pumpkins, Farm Visits)
Defra category: Defra doesn't publish a separate figure for pick-your-own or farm visits, and doesn't say which of its categories they fall under.
Clare Readman and her father Simon farm a 390-acre holding at Newlands Farm near Dover in Kent. In late 2023, Clare started Gingerly Green Flower Farm, a pick-your-own flower business on former arable land. The flowers take just a few acres, yet by July 2026, Farmers Guardian reported, they brought in about one-third of the whole business's income. The family told the BBC they were surprised to learn that an acre of cut flowers is, on average, significantly more profitable over time than wheat, oats or barley.
Pumpkins are the autumn version. Lower Drayton Farm near Penkridge in Staffordshire planted a record 25 acres of pumpkins for 2025, with tickets from £12 a person, each including one pumpkin, plus a carving barn and a pop-up café. Managing director Richard Bower said: "Pumpkin picking has become a real autumn tradition for so many families."
At the top end, Cotswold Farm Park in Gloucestershire welcomes more than 170,000 guests a year and averages £400,000 in monthly sales, according to Farmers Guardian.
Field-Tested Play: Pick one short season you can own. Sell timed tickets online in advance so you know your numbers before the gate opens. Then add the extras that lift every ticket: a café, a carving barn, a photo spot, a farm walk.
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Reality Check: Visitor businesses live and die by the weather and one short season. A wet October weekend can wipe out a big share of your pumpkin takings. Plan parking, toilets and staff for your busiest hour, and get public liability cover before the first car arrives. |
All 7 Ways Side by Side
Here are all seven farm diversification ideas in one table. The Defra figures are for 2024/25. The time to first income is my rough guide, not a promise.
Way | Share of English farms | Average income per farm doing it | Start-up cost (real examples) | Time to first income (rough guide) | Main permission to ask about |
No. 1 Letting buildings | 50% | £27,900 | Low for storage; Furland Farm's shed conversion got a grant of up to £25,000 towards half the cost | Weeks to months | Class R prior approval or planning; business rates |
No. 2 Solar and renewables | 27% solar, 12% other | £3,900 solar, £19,800 other | Little for a land lease (the developer builds) | Often years (option period of 1 to 5 years) | Developer's planning and grid connection; your lease and tax advice |
No. 3 Sport and recreation | 13% | £3,600 | About £30,000 to dig and dredge one fishery (2019, partly on contra deals); nearly £1m for a shooting clubhouse | One season | Planning (the 28-day rule for occasional use); licences |
No. 4 Processing and retail | 13% | £22,600 | Mootrition began on an £80,000 loan | Weeks to months | Food registration 28 days before trading; planning for a shop or café |
No. 5 Tourist accommodation | 7% | £8,700 | Bell tent from £1,000; hut £35,000 to £50,000; infrastructure £50,000 to £100,000 for up to 4 units | One season | Class BC notice for tents, or planning plus a site licence |
No. 6 Weddings and events | Not separated by Defra | Not separated | About £500,000 (Granary Estates) to £1.3m (The Wellbeing Farm) | One to two years | Planning; Approved Premises; alcohol licence |
No. 7 Pick-your-own and visits | Not separated by Defra | Not separated | Seed, plants, parking and ticketing (no national benchmark) | First season | Planning for parking and buildings; ask the council |
Which Way Fits Your Farm?
The best way for your farm depends on three things: what you already have, how much you like people, and how much money and time you can risk.
If you don't want visitors, look at your buildings and land first. If you enjoy people, the question becomes time: weddings eat every weekend, glamping runs all week, and pick-your-own or fishing can fit around a working farm.
And remember the Morleys and the Days. They didn't pick one way. They stacked two or three, one step at a time.
Paperwork and Protection: The Questions to Ask Before You Spend a Penny
This is not legal or tax advice. It's the list of questions I'd want answered before I signed anything. Rules change, so check each one when you're ready.
Questions for your planning officer or planning consultant
Does my building qualify for Class R (farm building to commercial use)? Since 21 May 2024, up to 1,000 sq m can change use, with prior approval on matters like transport and flooding.
Does it qualify for Class Q (farm building to homes)? Since the same date, up to 10 homes and 1,000 sq m in total, with a limit of 150 sq m per home. This right can't be used in National Parks or National Landscapes.
Can I run a Class BC temporary campsite (60 days, 50 pitches)? Land in Flood Zones 2 or 3 needs a flood risk assessment.
Do my events fall under the 28-day temporary-use rule, or do I need full planning permission?
Do my glamping huts or pods need planning permission, and do I also need a site licence?
Questions for your council's licensing and food teams
When do I register my food business? You must register at least 28 days before trading. It's free.
Can my venue become Approved Premises for civil weddings? Outdoor civil ceremonies at approved venues have been allowed permanently since 6 April 2022, in a spot judged "seemly and dignified".
Do I need a Temporary Event Notice or a premises licence to sell alcohol? A TEN covers fewer than 500 people for up to 168 hours, costs £21 and must be given at least 10 clear working days ahead. One premises can have up to 15 a year.
Questions for your accountant
What will my business rates be? Small Business Rate Relief gives 100% relief if the rateable value is £12,000 or less and it's your only business property (with some exceptions), tapering to nothing at £15,000.
Should my new business sit inside the farm business or in a separate company?
How does a holiday let get taxed and rated? Since April 2023, a self-catering let in England pays business rates rather than council tax only if it's available for at least 140 days and was actually let for at least 70 days in the last 12 months.
Questions for your solicitor (and your accountant together)
Will this change my inheritance tax position? From 6 April 2026, 100% agricultural and business property relief applies only to the first £2.5 million of qualifying property, with 50% relief above that. Any unused allowance can pass to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
Will letting land or buildings move them out of agricultural property relief? Land under a solar farm will no longer qualify, for example.
Does the lease protect me: tenant limits, repairs, break clauses, decommissioning bonds?
Questions for your insurer
Am I covered for paying visitors? Public liability insurance covers injury or damage to visitors. Product liability matters if you sell food.
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ anyone, with a £5 million legal minimum. Does mine cover family, friends and volunteers?
Have I told my insurer about the new business? NFU Mutual advises farmers to check with their insurer that they're properly covered for each diversification.
My guide to agritourism insurance and what coverage you need goes deeper.
What about grants?
Here's the honest answer. As of November 2026, there is no open national grant in England aimed at farm diversification.
The Rural England Prosperity Fund, which part-funded the Furland Farm conversion, ended in March 2026. According to a local MP, ministers said there are no plans to directly replace it in rural areas without a mayor. The 2026 Farming Equipment and Technology Fund closed on 28 April 2026 and paid for productivity, slurry and animal health kit. The £225 million Capital Grants offer pays for environmental work such as hedges and water quality.
So ask locally: your council, your Growth Hub, and your National Park or National Landscape office. In those protected landscapes, the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is open, though it isn't aimed at diversification as such. But build a plan that works without a grant. If one turns up, it's a bonus.
Not in England? How the Same 7 Ways Work in the US and Canada
Many of my readers farm in the US and Canada. The rules and the numbers are different, but the seven ways translate almost one for one.
In the US, the 2022 Census of Agriculture found that 28,617 farms earned money from agritourism or recreational services, about 1.5% of all US farms, taking in $1.26 billion between them. England's 72% counts building lets and solar too, so the two numbers aren't like for like. But it tells you visitor income is still wide open in North America.
The same principles carry across the Atlantic:
Buildings and solar: storage, workshops and solar leases all work there too. Zoning replaces Class R, and the same warnings about long leases, decommissioning and estate tax apply. Get your own lawyer.
Sport and recreation: hunting leases, fishing access and private dog parks are the common versions.
Processing and retail: farm stands, on-farm stores and value-added products. Food rules vary by state and province.
Visitors: farm stays, campsites, barn weddings, U-pick and pumpkin patches. Check local zoning and short-term rental rules before you build.
In Scotland, the story is similar but the support system is different. I wrote about it in why waiting for the government to fix Scottish farm income is the riskiest plan.
From Problem to Profit on My Own Farm
I'm Stephen Loke, founder of Bloopy Durians, a durian farm in Bentong, Malaysia. My climate and my crop are nothing like yours. But I've faced the same kind of problem.
Durian seasons are short, about four to five months a year in total, spread across two seasons, roughly December to February and June to August.
I had another problem. Parts of our farm road are not tarred, so normal cars can't get in, and a proper road was beyond my budget.
So I turned the problem into the product. Visitors park elsewhere and we pick them up by four-wheel drive. Children and foreign visitors love riding in the back. That ride became a paid adventure, as I explain in how a 4WD adventure ride brought revenue to my durian farm.
Our farm tour runs about 90 minutes. Guests plant a durian tree, ride the 4WD, walk among the durian trees, and finish with durian tasting at the farmhouse. There they learn to tell durian varieties apart and open a durian themselves.
The farm now welcomes visitors from all over the world, and many companies send their staff and management to us. It has been featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. Guests are invited into our WhatsApp group of loyal customers, who buy durians every season. That gives us a reliable, recurring income.
That's the lesson I want you to take from every story in this article. Your biggest problem on the farm is often your best product. An empty dairy, a rough road, a field that earns nothing: each one can become the thing people pay for.
Farm Diversification Questions People Ask
What percentage of farms in England are diversified?
According to Defra, 72% of farm businesses in England had some diversified activity in 2024/25, up from 52% in 2010/11. Defra's first 2025/26 farm income results are due in December 2026.
What is the most profitable farm diversification in the UK?
In England, letting out buildings for non-farm use is the most profitable diversified activity in Defra's data, averaging £27,900 a year in 2024/25 for each farm doing it. Processing and retail (£22,600) and other renewable energy (£19,800) come next.
What is the most common type of farm diversification?
Letting out farm buildings. Half of all English farm businesses did it in 2024/25. Solar energy is second at 27%.
How much do farms earn from diversification?
Farms with diversified activities earned an average of £31,100 from them in 2024/25. Across all farms, the average was £22,400, which was 31% of Farm Business Income and more than the £14,200 the average farm made from farming itself.
Do I need planning permission to diversify my farm?
Often, but not always. Class R and Class Q can allow some farm buildings to change use with prior approval, and Class BC allows a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year. Many other changes need full planning permission, so ask your council first.
Are there grants for farm diversification in England in 2026?
There is no open national grant aimed at diversification right now. The Rural England Prosperity Fund ended in March 2026. Ask your council, Growth Hub or National Park office about local help.
What happens when delinked payments end?
Payments are set to be cut by 98% on the first £30,000 in 2026 and 2027, and by 100% above that. The government says 2027 will be the last year. Farms that relied on them will need another income to fill the gap.
Does solar on farmland affect inheritance tax?
It can. Advisers quoted by Farmers Weekly say land used for a solar farm will no longer qualify for agricultural property relief. Since 6 April 2026, 100% relief covers only the first £2.5 million of qualifying property. Speak to a tax adviser before you sign.
Your Next Step
You've just seen farmers turn an empty dairy, a field that earned nothing and a few acres of flowers into real money. My free ebook, 150 Ways to Unlock Hidden Wealth From Your Farm, gives you 150 ways to earn more from the land, buildings and skills you already have, so you can pick the ones that fit your farm instead of copying your neighbours. First, take my free Farm Readiness Quiz to see where your farm stands today.
Then grab the ebook. Keep it by the kitchen table, tick every idea that fits, and you'll have your own shortlist of 150 ways ready before you call your planner or your bank.
P.S. Remember the Morleys at Cross Butts? In 2001, foot and mouth left them with an empty farm. They didn't wait for the old income to come back. They built a new one off the field, one step at a time. You don't need to lose everything first. Start your first step this week.
Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
Sources
Defra, Farm Accounts in England, Chapter 5: Diversification (2024/25), updated 12 May 2026
Defra, Farm Accounts in England, Chapter 3: Cropping farms, updated 12 May 2026
Defra, Farm Accounts in England 2024/25, Table 15 (Farm Diversification), 22 January 2026
Farmers Weekly, "Almost two in three farms have diversified, Defra stats show", 15 December 2017
Defra, Farm Accounts in England 2019/20 (PDF), 18 February 2021
GOV.UK, Delinked payments: replacing the Basic Payment Scheme, updated 4 November 2026
Yorkshire Post, How a Whitby farming family who lost their livelihood to foot and mouth bounced back
Whitby Gazette, Whitby restaurant given green light for 22 lodges on its grounds
TheBusinessDesk, Family acquires castle to turn it into hotel and wedding venue, 12 February 2020
Bridebook, Sneaton Castle venue listing, accessed 8 November 2026
BBC News, Can glamping and cafes help save British farmers?, August 2025
CAAV, Farm businesses: has their number really fallen? (ONS closure figure), August 2025
Yorkshire Post, Former farm buildings in Bedale ravaged by fire take on new lease of life
Fisher German, Leicestershire family farm evolves over a century
Farmers Weekly, So you want to rent out office and workshop space, 9 November 2018
Cheffins, Rural business space opportunities for farmers and landowners, 8 January 2026
Test Valley Borough Council, Furland Farm diversifies, April 2025
The Daily Telegraph, The British farmers swapping sheep for solar panels, 11 November 2023
Farmers Weekly, Solar lease opportunities: what to consider, 12 July 2024
Solar Power Portal, Solar Energy UK: solar energy is saving agriculture, 10 March 2025
GOV.UK, Agricultural property relief and business property relief changes, updated 3 March 2026
Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire couple set up shooting school and spa after seeing no future in wheat
Farmers Weekly, So you want to offer fishing?, 14 November 2019
Farmers Weekly, How alternative enterprises can provide valuable farm income, December 2025
Farmers Weekly, How a Norfolk dairy diversified into tourism and hospitality, 15 November 2023
North York Moors National Park, New Sheepfold Farm, updated 10 April 2025
NFU, New extension to temporary campsite and filming rules in England, 19 July 2023
Tozers, Is a glamping pod or shepherd's hut classed as a building?, 15 October 2021
Lloyds Bank, The Wellbeing Farm case study, added 18 September 2026
Farmers Weekly, So you want to run a farm-based wedding venue, 6 July 2017
GOV.UK, Outdoor civil weddings and civil partnerships made permanent, 15 March 2022
Farmers Guardian, Flowers ensure sustainable future for family farm in Kent, 16 July 2026
Defra Farming blog, Changes to permitted development rights, 10 May 2024
West Oxfordshire District Council, Holiday lets and business rates
Stuart Anderson MP, Rural England Prosperity Fund, 3 February 2026
Defra Farming blog, NFU26: how we're building farming resilience, 24 February 2026
GOV.UK, Funding for farmers, growers and land managers, updated 1 October 2026
Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (Penn State), US agritourism data brief
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