Holly Beckett

As the fourth generation of a farming family in the West Midlands, with a long history of diversification including dairy, beef, sheep and egg production, we now farm 1200 acres of arable land alongside running a farm shop, restaurant, cookery school and conference facilities, I undertook a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2015 looking at practical applications that can be introduced for business growth through the development of people.

With 120 employees in the company, great leadership and managing people was by far the greatest challenge. It became clear to me that, understanding others was a key driver in successful leadership and the foundation for that development should be laid from understanding the self. I gained sponsorship in 2016, from The Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust, to pilot the introduction of mindfulness to agriculture. Through my studies, I found this training had been heavily undertaken within the corporate industry, with results which improved productivity, reduced accident rates, better managed stress and enhanced overall well-being within employees.

Focussed Farmers was launched in 2017 to measure the effects on farmers and ag-sector workers completing a programme of mindfulness and meditation, coupled with goal setting…The current study is providing some remarkable results.