Why I started this farming encyclopaedia
About us
Hello! I’m Mike Donovan, the founder and publisher of Practical Farm Ideas. I have always been fascinated by farming innovations, especially brainwaves thought up by working farmers, contractors and farm workers. In the late ’80s I got into making and adapting some ideas on our own farm and thought it would be useful to have have a regular magazine which featured ideas and innovations from UK and abroad. The first issue of Practical Farm Ideas was published in April 1992 and we produce four issues a year.
The magazine very different to other farm media as it is all-editorial, that's to say, no advertising, sponsorship or government funding. It is all financed by subscribers and sales.
A bit about myself: BSc in Agri Economics from Reading University leading to being a consultant at Economist Intelligence Unit and then an editor with Financial Times. Always wanted to farm and did so in 1977 moving to a small dairy farm in W Wales. The magazine was a sideline for the first ten years but is now full time, having retired from farming. PFI
has very many loyal readers, from the largest farmers in the country as well as small family farms. The project has been a fascinating journey, meeting really innovative farmer/contributors on farm visits and through talks
Here's a big thanks to all who have been involved over the years. Each project featured is one that has solved a problem experienced by many.
Our 'no-adverts' policy gives us the freedom to print predictions which can be counter to the news at the time. Our warnings of the inevitable rise in interest rates was made four years ago when farm loans with variable rates under 2% were being sold. Today we are seeing a big reduction of farm subsidies. Together with interest rates it is going to hit many farmers quite hard. In 2013 soil management became important, and we set out specific pages titled ‘Soil and cover cropping international’ which gave our subscribers the green light on No-till.
Once again, many thanks to all those farmers who have helped make this a success, and many thanks to the web experts at
IONOS, and Simplecirc for their work getting this site off the ground. Do feel free to contribute! Also, it would be very useful to be told about the gremlins… please let me know!
Mike Donovan editor@farmideas.co.uk
How it works
Click subscribe and you get into the shop. Subscribe for yourself or as a gift. Payment is through Stripe which accepts a range of cards and PayPal. This gateway is provided by SimpleCirc who are circulation managers to more than 2,000 magazines worldwide.
You can choose digital or print. Digital is done through a code which is emailed to you. Buy issue 20-4 with a click.
You can also get back issues. The Index tells you the Vol and Issue number of each story.
