Transforming Farming Towards Profitability and Resilience
North Star Transition joins forces with the Royal Agricultural Society of England and Innovation for Agriculture.
North Star Transition is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Royal Agricultural Society of England and its sister organisation, Innovation for Agriculture.
Together, our ambitious vision is to spark the development and widespread adoption of a resilient and profitable farming system across the UK.
The current farming system is facing significant challenges. Decades of policies and practices have prioritised yield and production over long-term resilience, profitability for farmers, and sustainability. Environmental degradation – especially of soil health, which is a farmer’s most vital asset – has become widespread.
Climate change, volatile input markets, and a shifting economic landscape have further strained the system. As a result, underperforming farms not only face ongoing financial hardship but also contribute to broader risks such as food insecurity, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and increased vulnerability to geopolitical shocks.
Despite mounting pressure and the clear need for change, efforts to reform the system have largely been unsuccessful. Barriers such as an over-reliance on top-down policies rather than farm-level solutions, and a short-term focus have all impeded meaningful progress.
Many farmers are now confronting a difficult choice: accept a managed decline of their business, exit the farming sector altogether, or embrace significant changes in their practices.
North Star Transition, together with the Royal Agricultural Society of England and Innovation for Agriculture, is committed to supporting farmers who wish to choose the path of resilience and profitability.
Our Collaborative Approach
The unique skills contributed by each of North Star Transition, the Royal Agricultural Society of England and Innovation for Agriculture, will enable new thinking, resources and energy to be brought to this significant problem.
The Royal Agricultural Society of England brings a long-standing heritage of championing agricultural excellence and a trusted convening role within the sector. With extensive networks and credibility across farming communities, RASE is well placed to support engagement, dissemination, and sectoral influence.
Innovation for Agriculture offers expertise in applied agricultural research and knowledge exchange with on-the-ground delivery capability, technical and scientific insight, and strong relationships with farmers and land-based practitioners.
North Star Transition contributes systems thinking, strategy development, and facilitation of cross-sector collaboration. North Star Transition’s work is focused on enabling place-based and system-wide response to complex challenges.
By combining heritage and sectoral influence, technical innovation and practical research expertise, and systems-level strategic vision, our partnership can unlock holistic solutions that could not be achieved alone.
Designing a Programme for Farmers
We are currently working to create a programme that can be adopted by farmers throughout the UK. While we are still in the early stages, we have identified several key elements that will be essential for enabling farmers to join us on this journey:
A comprehensive farm assessment, so that farmers can clearly understand their current position and the options available to them.
An evaluation of diverse farming practices, providing tailored pathways for each farm to become more resilient and profitable.
Provision of resources—both financial and skills development—to empower farmers as they transition.
We are committed to exploring these areas and more, seeking to determine what it will truly take for UK farming to become both resilient and profitable for generations to come.
As Jyoti Banerjee, CEO of North Star Transition explains, “In the work we have been doing in the Transition Labs we operate in the Wye and Usk landscapes, the Fens and in Fife, the chorus is repeated over and over again: the majority of UK farms are neither profitable nor resilient. This needs to change urgently. I am so pleased that we have found a capable partner for this work in the Royal Agricultural Society of England. We are starting this work in the landscapes we operate our Transition Labs in, but our goal has to be to transform farming across the UK.”
David Grint, CEO at Innovation for Agriculture and RASE, adds, “Farmers across the UK know they are facing some of the toughest challenges in living memory. At Innovation for Agriculture, we want to back farmers with resources and knowledge that strengthen the whole farm business — not just for today, but for the future. Working with our partners, our goal is to help farmers make changes that improve resilience, secure profitability, and ensure farming remains a thriving part of the UK countryside.”
Catalysing the move towards profitable and resilient farming is an ongoing collaborative process needing to synthesise existing efforts into system-level transformation. And so we invite you to join us. We welcome your feedback, your participation, and your shared ownership of the vision laid out here as we work to build a profitable and resilient future for farming.