The farm is the easy bit. It's the people stuff that's tough.
Practical support for farming families and farm businesses — the conversations, decisions, and dynamics that shape whether a farm survives or thrives.
Most farm business problems aren't really about the farm. They're about the conversations that keep getting avoided, the decisions nobody wants to make, and the tension that builds up between the people who care most about the place.
That's where I come in. I work with farmers and farming families across the UK on the human side of their business. Not as an outsider looking in — I grew up on a beef and sheep farm in North Yorkshire, so I understand this world from the inside.
GRIP Workshop
Take back control of what actually matters.
Most farm business courses focus on the technical side — agronomy, finance, compliance. GRIP is different. It focuses on the bit nobody else touches: the human side.
Goals. Reality. Insights. Planning. It's a structured, practical workshop that helps you get to grips with the communication, conflict, and decision-making that actually determines whether your farm moves forward.
You'll leave with a workbook and a written plan — not just a better mood. Subsidised to never more than £100 per farmer, thanks to the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust.
Goals
What do you actually want from your farm and your life?
Reality
Where are things right now — honestly?
Insights
What's getting in the way, and why?
Planning
What are you going to do about it?
Family Meetings
Sometimes a family just needs someone in the room.
Succession. Who does what. Who gets what. Who actually wants to be here in twenty years. These are hard conversations in any family.
In a farming family — where the business, the home, and people's identities are all tied up in the same place — they can feel almost impossible.
I work with farming families to facilitate the conversations that keep getting avoided, or going round in circles. Structured, impartial, and grounded in how farming families actually work — not how a textbook says they should.
It doesn't have to get to solicitors before you ask for help. In fact, the earlier you bring someone in, the easier it usually is.
This is for you if:
- Succession keeps getting pushed down the road
- There are disagreements about direction, investment, or who does what
- Conversations end in silence, arguments, or nothing changing
- You want to get everyone in the room before it becomes a crisis
Why Amy?
Amy Hughes grew up on a beef and sheep farm in North Yorkshire. She's a qualified interpersonal mediator and has spent years helping farming families work through the stuff that gets in the way — communication, conflict, succession, and change. She knows why these conversations stall. And she knows how to get them moving again.
Read Amy's Full StoryNot sure what's right for you?
That's fine. Most people aren't when they first get in touch. Just tell Amy a bit about your situation and she'll point you in the right direction.
Get in Touch