Farm manager: Job description

Farm managers raise animals, tend crops, plan strategies for maximum yield, organise farm administration, work machinery, organise associated businesses and manage staff. They need to have technical and practical competence, as well as the ability to make sound business decisions.

Farms are generally arable (crops), dairy or livestock, and are run by management companies or single-owner farmers. Crops range from cereals, oilseed rape and potatoes to vegetables and salad crops. Livestock are usually pigs, cows or sheep.

Farm managers must appreciate the need to satisfy regulations set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)  for safe, high-quality produce farmed in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Typical work activities

Farm managers are responsible for planning, organising and managing the activities of a farm to meet the objectives of the owner.

Tasks include:

• planning finances and production to maintain farm progress against budget parameters;
• practical activities, e.g. driving tractors, operating machinery, feeding livestock, spraying fields, etc;
• marketing the farm's products;
• buying supplies, such as fertiliser and seeds;
• arranging the maintenance and repair of farm buildings, machinery and equipment;
• planning activities for trainee staff, mentoring and monitoring them;
• maintaining and monitoring the quality of yield, whether livestock or arable crops;
• understanding the implications of the weather and making contingency plans;
• making sure that products are ready for deadlines, such as auctions and markets;
• ensuring that farm activities comply with government regulations;
• monitoring animal health and welfare;
• maintaining a knowledge of pests and diseases and an understanding of how they spread and how to treat them;
• applying health and safety standards across the farm estate;
• monitoring and documenting all yields and land use to meet funding requirements;
• protecting the environment and maintaining biodiversity;
• keeping financial records up to date.

Many farmers are now diversifying their activities to supplement their income. Supplementary activities may include:

• providing bed and breakfast or holiday lets;
• field sports;
• horse trials;
• off-roading;
• wind power generation;
• speciality herds, such as llamas and alpacas;
• farm shops selling the farm's own and other locally sourced produce;
• creating fishing lakes;
• livery stables;
• riding schools;
• worm farming;
• processing their own products, e.g. vegetables or cold pressed oils.