FARMERS in west Wiltshire received an unexpected boost this week with a Government grant of almost £1m to develop business skills and make farms more profitable.

Seven colleges in the south west will split a £995,000 grant from the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to set up flexible vocational training schemes farmers can fit around their work.

The scheme aims to bring farmers together to brainstorm ideas and swap skills.

The Kicking Donkey group has been meeting at farms in and around west Wiltshire for about a year, bringing farmers together with a specialist trainer.

Agricultural consultant Tom Phillips travels 1,500 miles a week visiting farming groups like the Kicking Donkey to advise them on cost efficiency.

He said: "This grant from the Government is huge and great news for an industry that's full of negativity and bad press.

"This gives us a great opportunity to get more of these groups under way and build up the confidence of the farmers and this industry.

"They learn a great deal from just chatting about their businesses and throwing ideas around and I'm am always impressed with how supportive they are of each other."

Francis Banfield, who farms a dairy herd of around 200 cows at Westwood Farm, Keevil, is part of the Kicking Donkey group.

He said: "If you've got 10 people with 10 different ideas looking at a problem everyone will come up with a different solution and although you might not take up all of the ideas yourself it does help. Having these meetings has already meant we run the farm more efficiently."

Defra is also planning courses to increase the contribution of farming to Wiltshire's economy, improve farmers' business skills and competitiveness and promote sustainable land use.

The Defra project will be managed from Duchy College, Cornwall and Hartpury College, Gloucestershire and will operate across the whole of Wiltshire.

Other colleges involved are Wiltshire College Lackham, Cannington College, Somerset, Bicton College, Devon, Kingston Maurward College, Dorset, and the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.

Phil Owens, of Defra's rural development service, said: "This grant is a significant investment in the future of farming in the south west and will provide new opportunities for the region's farming community to update and expand their expertise in a rapidly changing industry."