Arable farm boasts 14 income streams
An English farmer is proving there's more than one way to squeeze every cent out of an arable operation.
Lancashire's Olly Harrison has become a successful farmer and entrepreneur as well as being a popular YouTuber since leaving school at 16 after struggling with dyslexia.
He's grown his farm from 70 hectares to 600ha and used earnings from his YouTube channel — OllyBlogsAgricontractfarmer — which has nearly 150,000 subscribers, to build up his machinery fleet.
Over the past month, he's put out posts about "flailing off" a roadside verge, inspecting emerging millet and canary grass crops in a drought year, oil leaks in a tractor and the minutiae of farming life.
His farming business has 14 different income streams including cropping, dog walking fields, chipping tree waste for biomass, sunflower mazes and office and holiday rentals.
The farmer always seeking new ways to commercially get the most out of his land and assets will be one of the main speakers at Foundation for Arable Research's (FAR) two-day two-yearly conference at Lincoln University from June 30.
Mr Harrison will be outlining his farming journey via video link.
The conference theme of Show Me the Money,will tackle the ongoing concern of profitability as farmers balance greater costs with trying to bring in more income.
A range of international and local speakers will combine with FAR staff to outline ways farmers can reduce costs, improve productivity, diversify into additional income streams and adopt new tools and technologies.
FAR spokeswoman Anna Heslop said growers provided regular feedback on the financial challenges of increasing input costs, flat crop contract prices, increased regulatory compliance and extreme weather events.
Keynote speaker will be New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy and Methven arable farmer Hamish Marr.
He will be accompanied in the lineup by South Australian grain grower James Venning talking about how to make technology pay.
Over varying soil types, he uses a wide range of technologies to help his decision-making and to micro-manage areas in his cropping programme focusing on productivity, efficiency and cost effectiveness.
The chairman of his local grower group Northern Sustainable Soils, is a board member of the Hart Field Site Group and a grower director of Grain Producers South Australia.
Also appearing via video link will be the founding director of the Centre for Evidence Based Agriculture at Harper Adams University in England, Prof Nicola Randall, to discuss whether regenerative agricultural systems add value.
Farmer discussion panels will provide examples of different approaches and technologies growers are adopting to improve their farm business performance.
A conference dinner will double as a farewell to FAR chief executive Dr Alison Stewart, who steps down at the end of June.
Who is Olly Harrison?
United Kingdom farmer and entrepreneur Olly Harrison is the face behind popular YouTube channel OllyBlogsAgricontractfarmer.
Daily videos starting in the Covid-19 lockdown provide an insight into the challenges and triumphs of farming, marked by humour and diversification stories to fund his "tractor addiction".
His online presence reaches an audience of more than 350,000 followers across his social channels, with 110,000 of them on YouTube.
The farmer's 1500-plus videos have been watched more than 77 million times with his content resonating with farming enthusiasts and urban people curious about rural life.
Mr Harrison was named the International Agricultural Influencer for YouTube by the German Agricultural Society and recognised by the National Farmers' Union as a Community Farming Hero.
His ability to explain the complexities of farming in straightforward language has made him a regular contributor on BBC News and BBC Radio 4.
By last year his farming business had 14 different income streams, including a merchandise operation grossing more than £100,000 in 2023.
After vowing he would own a brand new combine harvester by the age of 40, and achieving the goal, he decided to drive his Claas Lexion combine from John O'Groats to Land's End for charity.
His charitable contributions so far total more than $1 million from events ranging from tractor runs through Liverpool to YouTube fundraisers.
He has promised to leave a farm to each of his three children as he continues to build his farming business.
tim.cronshaw@alliedpress.co.nz
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