Farming Officer Forum

This page is about a group that networks to provide a better advice service to farmers. It is made up of people and organisations who work with farmers, and need to give coordinated advice

Page Contents:

About the Farming Officer Forum

Find out more about the Forum.

Following the publication of the "Future of Farming Inquiry" - many contacts in the area were wishing we had a better way of staying co-ordinated.  There are at least 25 different organisations who are potentially giving advice to farmers and land managers. 

While some of these organisations have a focus in a particular part of Northumberland, for instance a Rivers Trust, other organisations would work all over, for example Natural England.  

Together with Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) and The Rivers Trust, and part funded by the Great Northumberland Forest, we organised the first meeting, in June 2023, at Cockle Park.  There was a great appetite to attend, share, and network. 

Find out more about our past meetings below.  

It has become a "farm advisor professionals group meeting" - other sectors do have similar.  The aim is that people spread the word and the learning amongst their colleagues, in a ripple effect (not everybody has to attend everything!).  

Aims of the Farming Officer Forum

More information about the aims of the Farming Officer Forum.

There are a number of different organisations who liaise with land managers and farmers to give advice.  

The aim of the Farming Officer Forum is to provide a more integrated service to farmers, by joining up these professionals. In rural jobs it is easy to become isolated, which affects people who are new to their career as well as people who have worked in this sector for decades.  Sometimes, the advice can be incredibly specialised - for example, soil advice, tree planting grants, or bird surveys.  It can help if a farmer or land manager also wishes to discuss a separate issue, like water management, or habitat creation, or stewardship options - that we are able to speak with confidence about what we know and hopefully put the farmer in touch with the right person.  

We aim to bring together specialisms amongst professionals who liaise with farmers and land managers.  If there is an event, the aim is not that everybody from every organisation attends, the idea is that people spread the information amongst their colleagues and networks, in a 'ripple effect', so that we work efficiently.  

Newsletter group

Our plans for 2025.

There are now about 110 people in the group or "forum".  From surveys we have done, we know there is a desire for being able to network and communicate outside of the annual or bi-annual events that could be organised.  So, we are starting a regular newsletter.  

The aim of this is to spread the word about upcoming itiatiatives, events, contacts, and general co-ordination. Everyone can send in news to add.  When there are about 5-10 items, we will form it into an email.  Nothing fancy, but simple and effective.  This will help us become a more official and professional networking group.  

Because we will be storing work email addresses, which are personal information under the Data Protection Act and GDPR, we have drafted a GDPR statement (below).  Anybody can opt out at any time by emailing abi.mansley@northumberland.gov.uk.  We will review the list every 12 months in January and check with everybody.  

Similarly, if you want to opt in, or you have an item for the newsletter, you can contact abi.mansley@northumberland.gov.uk.

 
One of our first newsletters included a fun quiz, with four multiple choice.  Here are the questions and the answers. 

Questions
  1. What is the average farm size in the North East: a) 145ha   b) 120ha   c) 105ha
  2. What % of farms in the North East are greater than 100 ha?  a) 17%   b) 36%   c) 44%
  3. What % of farms in Northumberland are greater than 100 ha?  a) 13%   b) 36%   c) 47%
  4. How many total holdings are there in Northumberland? a) 1,925   b) 4,590   c) 3,225
Data sources:
Q1 and Q2 from Agricultural Facts NE region updated 31st Oct 2024, most of the data source is then the June survey.
Q3 and Q4 from Structure of the agricultural industry in England at June - breakdown for Northumberland unitary authority (2021).

Answers
Q1: a) 145 ha (see table 1.1) for the North East vs. 88 ha average farm size in England.
Q2: b) 36% - (see figure 1.2) for the North East vs. 25% for England.
Q3: c) 904 holdings out of a total of 1,925 holdings is 47% (in 2021).
Q4: a) 1,925 total holdings (in 2021 - in 2016 it was 1,998 holdings).
One of our recent newsletters included a fun quiz, with anagrams.  Here are the questions and the answers. 
  1. LACK WIN    Alnwick
  2. THE PROM    Morpeth
  3. DODGY BRIE NAH    Haydon Bridge
  4. WET HITS HALL     Haltwhistle
  5. A LEAN DELL Allendale
  6. BAN HILL GEM      Bellingham
  7. MALT CORN GIN     Cramlington
  8. RUDE HOP    Prudhoe
  9. WE POCKET WEIRD BUN     Berwick upon Tweed
  10. STING NOAH  Ashington
  11. TONED BLING   Bedlington
  12. USES A SHOE    Seahouses
  13. NOTED PLAN   Ponteland
  14. HELLS A DANE    Allenheads
  15. RUB ROTTEN    Otterburn
  16. LOB FRIED    Belford
  17. BLAME    Amble
  18. SO FUN STORE    Fourstones
  19. GO RED CRIB    Corbridge
  20. NELL DODO HEN WHAT    Heddon on the Wall

GDPR Statement

As we are holding work email addresses in a contacts list for the Forum of Farming Officers, here is our GDPR Statement.

How we handle your information
This Privacy Notice is designed to help you understand how Northumberland County Council as a registered Data Controller will handle your personal information. It will outline why we ask for your personal information, detail the information we hold, how it is used, shared and how long it is kept for. It will also detail how you can exercise your rights.

Why do we ask for your personal information? 
We use information about people with a work role that involves liaising with farmers and who are interested in improved co-ordination, to share information / news / events / initiatives (with the aim of reducing duplication and improving joined-up farm advice).  

What information do we hold? 
We only process the minimum personal information required to deliver the co-ordination (work email addresses, job titles).

The personal information we process includes:
●    Work email address and job title,
●    Event bookings and attendance, dietary preferences.

We are not processing any sensitive personal information about members of the group.

How does the law allow us to use your personal information?
There are a number of legal reasons why we are allowed to collect and use your personal information. In order to process your personal data, we rely on the legal basis of legitimate business.  In other words, that it is necessary for us to have the information to conduct our legitimate business for the non-statutory service of helping to increase the tree cover in the county.

How long do you keep my information for? 
We will only store your information for as long as is legally required, or in situations where there is no legal retention period, they will follow established best practice.  We will review the email membership list annually (every January) and recirculate an updated GDPR statement at that time with an opt-out reminder.  The current retention period is therefore until January 2026.  

Who will you share my information with? 
We wish to share your information with key partners in the Forum: Natural England Life WADER project (which runs until 2027), the Environment Agency, Tweed Forum, the Northumberland Rivers Trust.  You can get in touch at any time to leave the email group.  

Can request a copy of my records? 
Yes.  You can request what information Northumberland County Council holds about you. If you wish to see a copy of your records you should submit a Subject Access Request which is available through our website, or by contacting the Information Governance Office. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

Do I have Other Rights? 
Data Protection law gives you the right: 

1.    To be informed why, where, and how we use your information. 
2.    To ask for access to your information.
3.    To ask for information to be corrected if inaccurate or incomplete. 
4.    To ask for your information to be deleted or removed where there is no need for us to continue processing it. 
5.    To ask us to restrict the use of your information. 
6.    To ask us to copy or transfer your information from one IT system to another in a safe and secure way. 
7.    To object to how your information is used. 
8.    To challenge any decisions made without human intervention (automated decision making). 
9.    To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. 
10.    If our processing is based upon your consent, to withdraw your consent. 
 
Further information
If you would like to know more about how we use your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this notice, please tell us. Please contact abi.mansley@northumberland.gov.uk
 
Data Protection Officer: informationgovernance@northumberland.gov.uk
 
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with the way we process your data. Details can be found on the ICO website, or you may write to the ICO at the following address:
 
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
 

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