Eurolink has become The International Farmlink Committee

The Eurolink Initiative has been running for nearly 30 years and over that time, hundreds of farmers from England and mainland Europe have visited each other to get an insight into the issues faced in their daily working lives. Eurolink has been fantastically successful and many participants keep in touch with the farming families that they have played host to and in turn visited. The scheme has been so successful that the Eurolink Club continues to meet somewhere in Europe every year to keep the friendships and spirit alive.

When Eurolink began the structure of the farming industry was different to how it is now. Twenty-five years ago the South East was dominated by family farms, many of them dairy. Typically, they were worked by the farm owners with help from family and employees and this allowed them to get away every now and again. This is how so many farmers from the South East have been able to take advantage of the Eurolink opportunity. But times have moved on. Whilst still a family business farming has become more complicated placing greater demands on the people involved. This gradual change has resulted in fewer farmers being able to spare the time to host foreign farmers and then visit them in their own countries.

However the fundamental reason Eurolink started has not changed – we have much to learn from farmers in other countries. On this premise Eurolink has been reborn as the International Farmlink Committee (IFC). The IFC’s role is to help individuals or groups of agriculturalists from the South East of England to visit a country of their choice with aim of studying a specific topic or enterprise. For example, if a group of farmers wish to visit wine producers in France because they plan to establish vineyards in the South East then the IFC can provide financial assistance with travel expenses. The first trip to benefit from the new scheme leaves this spring when 10 farmers will travel to Germany to study “on farm” renewable energy enterprises such as anaerobic digesters and gasifiers. In this instance each person will receive £250 from the South of England Agricultural Society and when they return a representative of the group will be required to present a brief summary of their trip and explain how the knowledge they have gained can be used to benefit their own business and the South East farming industry alike.

The new scheme is not restricted to farmers and is available to agriculturalists who can demonstrate that they would derive significant benefit from a study trip. The IFC Committee is keen to receive applications for funding and anyone interested should in the first instance, contact the IFC Chairman, Matthew Berryman to discuss their proposal.

Finally, whilst we look forward to discussing the opportunities that this new scheme will provide the original exchange program still exists and if anyone particularly wishes to visit a farming family and is happy to reciprocate then, we shall be pleased to hear from you.

Matthew Berryman – first published in Spring 2009 Eurolink Club Newsletter Issue No. 25