DIVERSIFYING FARM BUSINESSES Farm diversification Farm diversification is defined as the development of activities outside the of conventional crop and livestock enterprises associated with agriculture. It means that some resources such as land, labour and capital, which were previously invested in conventional agricultural activities, are to other activities. Diversification can also be seen as a response of farmers to adverse socioeconomic conditions in order to improve the profitability of the farm, make better use of its physical resources and characteristics and integrate it with the rural economy. range diverted ONLINE RESOURCES Agritourism: a farm holiday Before diversifying Before deciding to diversify, firstly it is necessary to be aware that diversification will not work for every farm. Then farmers should decide what benefits they hope diversification will bring, and carry out a detailed of the existing business, in particular: assessment why they want to diversify; what information they have about resources and market; how much the diversified business will cost to set up; how they will finance it; how profitable it will be; how to market it; what they know about legal requirements, tax and insurance issues. How to diversify There are very few limits on the kind of businesses a farmer can diversify into. In addition, climate change is also creating opportunities to diversify into crops that are not native to a country or into crops for use in electricity, heat generation and/ or biofuels. Activities farmers may decide to diversify into can be either agricultural or non-agricultural, such as: producing and selling livestock products: e.g. sheep and goat dairy foods, llama meat, milk and wool; starting fish farming; producing non-food crops: e.g. speciality flowers, pharmaceutical crops , energy crops, industrial fibre crops ( and cereal straw); 1 hemp, flax opening retail outlets and catering: e.g. a farm shop; opening facilities for craft making and retailing; tourism business: e.g. starting a bed&breakfast or a business. taking up campsite 1 All the above activities would also open new marketing opportunities, including farmers’markets and/or online selling or exports. DO Find out what pharmaceutical plants are and give some examples. 1 MORE , a new kind of agritourism throughout Europe, is a form of ‘elegant’ camping involving comfortable accommodation where tourists can enjoy a holiday in the open air with the glamour of luxury facilities. 1 Glamping