Across UK agriculture, the pressure to stay viable has never felt greater. Farmers are making decisions with more uncertainty than clarity, with tightening margins and a loss of control that some have never experienced before. Yet from my observations, one thing has become clear: profitability is not just a financial outcome. It's the product of resilience, mindset, and the ability to keep moving forward even when the path ahead isn't clear.
Resilience is often spoken about as toughness, but the farms that are adapting best are not the ones trying to carry everything alone. They're the ones building confidence through small, consistent decisions, the same way we build belief in ourselves. When speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, I explored how belief is built, not given. The same applies to business resilience: it's created through daily decisions and the courage to act before certainty arrives.
Profitability today increasingly depends on clarity. The Farming Profitability Review notes that rising fixed costs, extreme weather and volatility are leaving many questioning viability, and that lack of financial clarity is a core barrier to resilience. The most resilient farms are tackling this head-on: benchmarking margins, understanding enterprise performance, and treating financial insight as routine discipline rather than an annual task. Clarity leads to better decisions, and better decisions lead to stronger profits.
But resilience is also about adaptation. Agriculture is shifting at a pace that can feel daunting. The farms moving forward aren't waiting for perfect stability; they're redesigning systems and viewing disruption as a comma, not a full stop. Technology, automation, and workflow improvements aren't threats; they offer opportunities. Time is something none of us have enough of, and adopting a growth mindset allows farmers to reduce errors and refocus attention on what truly adds value.
Most importantly, viable businesses will be built by people, especially the next generation entering the sector. It is crucial for agriculture to be embedded into STEM education to inspire young entrants. The enthusiasm and curiosity coming through education brings skills in tech, data and communication. When young people are encouraged and mentored, their momentum becomes a genuine driver of resilience
So, the question now is this: if resilience is built through the choices we make today, what choices are we prepared to take ownership of? The future of UK agriculture won't be shaped by those waiting for certainty, but by those willing to act with clarity, adapt with confidence, and invest in the people who will carry this industry forward.
