Have you drawn up a Disaster Recovery Plan for your farm?

Planning for the future not only means sorting out a Will (for dealing with assets on death) and Lasting Powers of Attorney (in case of mental incapacity) but also, especially for farmers trading on their own or in a partnership where the other partner has no real involvement in the farm, drawing up a Disaster Recovery Plan. This will provide vital information to allow the farm to continue to operate and the livestock to be looked after if anything should happen to the farmer.

This should cover topics such as who are the key people to be involved on the practical side following any disaster, with information on their role and how to contact them if they are not on the farm at the time. It should also cover the farm’s support network such as contractors, the maintenance of machinery, the milk distributor, the vet etc.

Going on from there, it should also consider what is to happen in the light of the farmer being unable, through some terrible accident or death, to continue being involved in the long term running of the farm. What is to happen to the livestock? What is to happen to any employees? Are the farm itself and implements and machinery to be maintained or will they have to be sold?

Ideally this plan should cover various incidents separately, such as a serious injury, a fire, a sudden death and assess the impact of each and detail the action that is to be taken in each situation.

Here at UTK we have experience of advising in relation to disaster recovery plans and we can help you consider all the risks and put plans in place to deal with these. We can also help review these plans regularly.

By planning ahead for all eventualities, we can help you minimise the impact of any disaster and speed up the recovery process for you and your farm.

For further information please contact Adam Bruce on (01267) 237441 or e-mail him at adam.bruce@utk.co.uk