MY father, a livestock farmer based in North Devon, told me that he is giving up reading the farming press as it only seems to report on endless doom and gloom in the agricultural sector.

I admit there is plenty of negativity to report on, however I thought in this piece that I would focus on the positives.

When farming is going through a challenging period, like now, very few are actually driven out of business.

Many are sat on strong balance sheets with a valuable array of assets to call upon to generate funds if required.

This may be underutilised machinery or off-lying land, both of which could be sold off to aid cash flow.

Even at the moment many farms are still very profitable.

The successful ones tend to be those who are flexible, identify opportunities to di- versify and aren’t afraid to make difficult decisions to benefit their businesses.

Look at your business and see what makes money and what doesn’t. Don’t just do something because it was right for previous generations.

There is plenty of help out there.

Farming is still a very attractive sector to banks who understand the pressures on the industry.

Always keep them well informed at an early stage.

There are plenty of options available such as payment holidays, switching to interest only and short-term overdraft facilities.

As we have seen in the past, things can change very quickly to boost the fortunes of farmers.

The result of the vote on June 23rd may alter the currency exchange to work back in the favour of UK farmers.

It also only takes a small shift in demand or change in production levels to increase prices.

Judging by my farming clients there is plenty of optimism from the next gen- eration who are bursting with new ideas and looking ahead.

Let them get involved and see what they can bring to the business. The future is bright.

Rob Selley ACCA is an associate and farming specialist with A C Mole & Sons. He can be contacted on 01823 624450 or RSelley@acmole.co.uk.

You can follow him on Twitter at @RobAtAC-Mole.