LJM Associates Ltd

  I was really please to be asked to speak on a panel last night at the Future Farmers of Yorkshire X Farmer Scientist Network Autumn Debate 2025. The title of the debate was Tradition and Technology: The Future of Farming in Yorkshire. 

  It was really interesting to go to the NFU Tenants Conference last week and here a presentation by Alan Laidlaw, the Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector . In England, 45% of holdings are either wholly tenanted or mixed tenure, and a third of all agricultural land in England is tenanted. This leadership role has a wide remit and significant potential for positive outcomes and impacts.  This role will require courageous leadership  the subject of a previous post on this blog.

  Inertia causes individuals, teams, departments, and organisations to stand still — unable to move forward or even see a way ahead. Effective leaders must recognise inertia as a limiting factor and find ways to guide people toward realising their potential.  Doing nothing can sometimes feel like the safest option when faced with uncertainty. But over time, inertia creates comfort in habits and routines, leading to rigidity rather than adaptability. It fosters resistance to change and keeps people anchored to past experiences. As leaders, recognising inertia as a problem and actively seeking solutions is the crucial first step. We can start by asking ourselves:  What is making us, as a team, less effective?  Is inertia a problem?  Is fear of failure or fear of success driving inertia?  Do we fear changing the status quo or losing control?  What unlocking strategies can we introduce?  How do we determine if they are successful?  We implement ...

Nature keeps giving.... October has gone by so quickly and we are moving towards when the clocks change from British Summer Time to GMT. I recently wrote an article for the NFU (National Farmers'​ Union) British Farmer and Grower Magazine and given the media attention on farming one paragraph is worth repeating here.   "It has been a difficult farming year for everyone financially and with all the change and change again in the policy world around us. From the policy perspective we are awaiting the Land Use Framework, the Profitability Review led by Minette Batters, the ongoing implementation of the Farm Assurance Review; the Planning and Infrastructure Review, IHT changes, SFI – higher environmental scheme changes and on and on. For most family farms, this is all outside their circle of influence and their circle of control, making it difficult to navigate what this means for this autumn’s planting, plans for the spring, breeding plans and investment going forward. But ever...

  Leadership isn’t just about maintaining what already exists, what already seems to work and what everyone around you is comfortable with. It’s about imagining what could be, what you, and the others around you in your team, could become. Imagining is not enough, it takes courage to move ideas forward into real and effective actions.  Changemakers don’t just react and respond to change… they are the people who create it, who embrace it. They see opportunities, possibilities, and solutions that others often overlook and they take action, even when the path ahead is uncertain. Being a changemaker means asking: “We need to be better so what needs to be different about what we are thinking and doing and how can I make that change happen?”  To lead as a changemaker, you have to shift your mindset: From being comfortable to being curious and willing to explore what’s possible.  From being in control to facilitating collaboration because change isn’t a single event, a sin...

  Perfection often gets in the way of action. We have all had those moments when we sit down to start a project, at work or at home, and instead of getting on with it we quickly get stuck.... the blank piece of paper, the wardrobe we need to sort out, the kitchen cupboards that could do with tidying up, again.... The challenge is that perfection is always running ahead of you - what was a good job today, may not look like it tomorrow in retrospect. Academic papers I wrote nearly twenty-five years ago were of their time, when we had less knowledge, less understanding. Today I write from a different perspective, have honed my craft more and learned so much more, but that does not weaken the value of those early papers within their time and place and as a marker of where thinking was, what thinking emerged on the journey to today. So perfection is a moving target, we can lack confidence which leaves us perpetually in the 'delay loop.' In the delay loop, our minds and our bodies ar...

Very honoured to be awarded the Associateship of the Royal Agricultural Societies at the House of Lords yesterday and to be accompanied by my husband, Rob. I was humbled when hearing of the significant contribution all the other recipients have made to the agricultural community and the food industry over so many, many years.

  Really pleased that this paper has been published in the British Food Journal

  Imposter syndrome shows up as feelings of self-doubt despite having achieved a lot in our lives and our work. We might meet those milestones that we set for ourselves yet we can worry it’s just luck, or that someone will “find out” that we’re not as capable as we should be. We fear being noticed for when we fail to deliver rather than when we achieve. Self-doubt can feel especially intense as a leader, but all leaders can feel this way at some point in their lives.   If left unrecognised and if we don’t recognise these feelings, imposter syndrome can quietly shape our attitudes and our behaviours:  We can work continuously to “prove” ourselves  We can fail to celebrate our successes  We can downplay our contribution to delivering solutions  We miss out on opportunities because we lack confidence  We can keep repeating these patterns of behaviour leading to exhaustion, anxiety even burnout. These behaviours can prevent us from growing personally an...

  Really pleased that two of my co-authored chapters have been included in a new Burleigh Dodds publication - Instant Insights: Good agricultural practices - Do check it out.

Really pleased that our paper Fair trade and its role in sustainable development of agri-food system: A systematic literature review has been published - D o check it out

  When we think of strong leaders, we often picture in our minds’ certain characteristics such as assertiveness, ruthlessness, decisiveness, confidence, and charisma. But the strength of servant leadership comes from a completely different direction.  Servant leaders lead from the perspective that the organisational strategy is ‘not just about me.’ Servant leaders do not want to be flying solo as leaders that want to promote ‘us not me,’ they want to enable others to share aspects of leadership, roles within leadership. They want to promote working environments driven by collaborative leadership.  Their strengths are in supporting, facilitating, mentoring, coaching, and promoting to deliver excellence through others stepping up to give of their best. Their strengths lie in strategic and creative thinking, in listening and encouraging, in empathy and humility, and their thinking and strategic approach can lead to significant and long lasting transformation in any organisa...

Really please that this UK Food Standards Agency funded report is now published . I really enjoyed being part of the academic group where we had some deep-dive discussions on the safety of cell cultivated products to support this report. Do check it out.