Pen Picture Write up
What is a pen picture? A short professional summary that explains how your farm business operates and where it is positioned.
Use this 3-paragraph structure:
- Paragraph 1: Location and scale of the business
- Paragraph 2: Main enterprises, products and markets
- Paragraph 3: Strengths and challenges
Sentence starters
- XYZ Farm is a _____ hectare _____ farm located in _____.
- The business produces _____.
- Strengths include _____.
- Current challenges include _____.
Use the information you gathered on your Farm Profile page to write your 200–300 word pen portrait.
PowerPoint Present it
Use your pen picture and evidence to build a clear 6–8 slide presentation.
Suggested slide structure
- Slide 1: Farm introduction
- Slide 2: Location and soils
- Slide 3: Main enterprises
- Slide 4: Key stakeholders
- Slide 5: Supply chain
- Slide 6: Strengths and challenges
- Slide 7: Future opportunities
- Slide 8: Summary
Tip: Keep slides visual and concise, then use your spoken explanation to add detail from your workplace evidence.
Evidence Portfolio proof
Collect a variety of evidence to support your work:
- Farm maps and aerial photographs
- Invoices, delivery tickets and supplier communications
- Contracts and email exchanges with customers
- Stakeholder and supply chain diagrams (hand-drawn or digital)
- Written pen portrait (professional summary)
- PowerPoint presentation slides (6–8 slides)
- Learning journal entries documenting your progress
- Supervisor or mentor discussion notes
OneFile Submit
Submit your finished pen portrait and PowerPoint presentation to OneFile for assessment, along with your supporting evidence.
Do not upload confidential business information to OneFile unless your employer has given permission.
Learning Journal Reflect
Once you have completed the project, record it in your OneFile Learning Journal. Your entry should explain:
What you investigated → what you found → why it matters → what could happen if information was wrong or missing → what you learned from the activity.
Final Review Check off
Before submitting Part 1, check that you have:
- Investigated my farm/workplace.
- Gathered information about the main enterprises.
- Identified suppliers, customers and other stakeholders.
- Mapped a farm-to-food supply chain.
- Identified an important workplace record and explained why it matters.
- Collected appropriate workplace evidence.
- Written my farm pen portrait.
- Produced my 6–8 slide PowerPoint.
- Completed my OneFile evidence.
- Recorded my project activities in my Learning Journal.
- Reviewed my original project plan and identified whether anything changed.
Useful Resources Useful links
Benchmarking & Market Data
- AHDB – Cost of Production & Input Prices — Regularly updated data on input costs and margins
- AHDB – Agri Market Outlook — Annual market snapshots and forecasts
- Farm Business Survey – Crop Production 2023/2024 — Detailed costs and outputs
Financial & Sustainability Tools
- GOV.UK – Agricultural Price Indices — Historical price trends
- FAS Scotland – Arable Gross Margins — Margin calculation guidance
- Bayer Crop Science – Unit Cost of Production — Practical CoP calculation
Background & Context
- Wikipedia – Integrated Farming — Sustainability principles overview
- Wikipedia – Agriculture in the UK — Sector context and statistics