UK arable farmland in early summer

Worked example · Independent advisor · Farm advisor

Fielder Agronomy: advice that keeps working between farm visits.

Tom Ashworth advises nine farms from Lincolnshire to Devon. His Cultivator group keeps the crop and soil debates where he can see them, steer them and settle them — and four associate agronomists extend his reach without diluting his standard.

Leader Tom Ashworth, BASIS & FACTS agronomist Group 9 farms + 4 associate agronomists Model Bundled into his retainer

A worked example from our demonstration environment — the people and farms are illustrative; the platform, the evidence and every thread below are real.

The setup

As an agronomy team, you can provide your farm clients the latest Soil Health to Nutrient Density evidence-based support combined with your expertise

Video walkthrough — coming soon Tom’s group, shown from the leader’s console and a farmer’s phone — recorded walkthrough to follow.

The leader

Tom Ashworth

Independent agronomist (BASIS & FACTS) with a full field diary. His problem wasn’t demand — it was that every debate his farmers had between visits happened without him.

The group

Nine farms, four associates

Arable, dairy, mixed and horticultural members from Lincolnshire to Devon, plus associate agronomists in East Anglia, the Borders, the Midlands and Mid Wales — each looking after the farmers they introduced.

The commercial model

Bundled into the retainer

Tom doesn’t charge his farmers separately — the group deepens the agronomy service they already pay for. He pays one wholesale subscription and the platform makes his retainer harder to leave.

Inside the group

Real threads from the demonstration group.

The leader’s weekly insight

Cover crops before spring beans — what the trial data actually shows

Posted by Tom Ashworth · pinned to every member’s feed

“The honest read: the soil-structure and nitrogen-retention benefits are well supported; the yield uplift in year one is small and inconsistent. The gains compound — most trials show the rotation paying off by years three to five, not the first spring.”

The line that builds trust — a parked idea

Foliar seaweed every fortnight — does it actually do anything?

Raised by Priya Anand, field vegetables, Kent — after a rep’s pitch

A rep has me half-convinced to put seaweed extract on the brassicas every two weeks. It is not cheap. Is there real evidence or is it mostly marketing?

“Parking this one rather than endorsing it — and that is the honest answer… I would not commit the season to it. Don’t pay for the blanket programme on my say-so, because I can’t back it.”— Tom Ashworth
The Pollinator — proposed, refined, challenged, endorsed

Splitting nitrogen into three doses lifted my milling protein

Proposed by Will Pendle, arable — winter wheat & OSR, Lincolnshire

Rachel refined it: “The third dose timing mattered more than the number of splits — late, around flag leaf to ear emergence, is what moved protein for me.”

Mike challenged it: “Worked for milling wheat but on feed wheat it just cost me an extra pass for nothing.”

✓Endorsed against the evidence · Fielder Agronomy
“This holds up. A late nitrogen application is one of the better-evidenced levers for grain protein in milling wheat, and Rachel’s point about timing is the key refinement… So: milling and quality contracts yes, feed no.”— Tom Ashworth, endorsing with evidence references attached

What this example shows

Why this model works for an independent practice.

  • The retainer gets stickier. The group is a living, visible part of the service his farmers already pay for — leaving Tom now means leaving the group too.
  • His judgement scales. One insight — “what the trial data means for your fields” — reaches all nine farms at once instead of being repeated one farm gate at a time.
  • Associates extend reach, not risk. Four regional associates look after their own farmers, while endorsement authority stays with Tom — the standard never fragments.
  • Saying no builds the brand. The parked seaweed programme is the moment farmers learn his endorsement means something — popularity never earns the mark, evidence does.
Soil testing in the field

Run your practice like this.

Start with a handful of your own farmers on a complimentary pilot — your brand on the platform, your price to your members.

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