About BritFarmers
BritFarmers is a free resource for UK farmers — practical guides, news, grants information, and market updates covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. No paywalls, no membership fees.
Who’s Behind This
My name is Tim Harfield. I’m based in Suffolk and I’ve spent the last 21 years working in commercial agriculture — primarily salad and vegetable production. I’ve done everything from harvesting by hand to running the whole operation — growing, packing, supermarket supply, logistics, budgets, and capital expenditure. It’s the only industry I’ve ever known.
I started BritFarmers because I kept running into the same problem: finding reliable, up-to-date information about UK farming shouldn’t be this hard. Too much of what’s out there is behind paywalls, written by people who’ve never worked on a farm, or focused on American agriculture that doesn’t apply here. Our regulations, our climate, our supply chains, our grant schemes — they’re all different.
So I built this site to put useful farming information in one place, written plainly, and free for anyone to read.
What You’ll Find Here
Guides
In-depth guides on livestock, arable, machinery, soil health, and crop management. These aren’t thin summaries — they’re proper write-ups that try to cover what you actually need to know, with links to official sources like Defra, AHDB, and the NFU.
Grants & Funding
Coverage of SFI, Countryside Stewardship, capital grants, and other funding available to UK farmers. I try to break down eligibility, payment rates, and deadlines in plain English rather than copying Defra’s jargon.
News & Policy
UK farming news, policy changes, and industry developments. When Defra announces something new, I cover what it actually means for working farms.
Weather & Markets
Seasonal weather outlooks and market price updates for grain, livestock, and dairy — the numbers that affect your decisions.
Editorial Standards
This is a one-person operation — there’s no editorial team or newsroom. That means the standards I hold the work to matter, because nobody else is going to catch mistakes for me. Here’s how articles get to the site:
- Human-written and reviewed. I don’t fabricate anecdotes I haven’t lived, quote experts I haven’t read, or invent statistics that sound about right.
- Primary sources required. If I can’t link a claim to DEFRA, AHDB, NFU, gov.uk, or the relevant scheme document, the claim doesn’t go in.
- Cautious where I should be. When something sits outside my direct experience — a regional nuance, a technical detail in a sector I don’t work in — I say so openly rather than bluff.
- Corrections acted on quickly. If you spot something wrong, email hello@britfarmers.com. I read everything that comes in and I’d rather know.
- Publishing at a measured pace. No bulk-publishing — a maximum of two articles per working day, spaced out, so each one gets proper review.
You can read more about my background and approach on the about the editor page.
Why Free?
The site is supported by advertising. That means you get free access to everything, and I can keep building it. I don’t do sponsored content or pay-to-play reviews. If I recommend something, it’s because I think it’s genuinely useful.
Thanks for reading. I hope you find something useful here.
Browse our Knowledge Hub for free guides on everything from farming grants to livestock management. You can also join the early list for BritFarmers Weekly — launching soon.
— Tim Harfield, Suffolk
