Diversify Your Farmland with a Self Storage Business

I have just finished the 3rd season of Amazon Prime’s show Clarkson’s Farm. Aside from the continued jibes at his local council regarding various planning permission infractions, the clear message is that traditional agricultural farming is becoming incredibly tough to turn a profit on. Spiralling costs of fertilisers, energy, fuel, and seed are challenging enough. When you add the extreme weather conditions we are experiencing, it creates an uncertain future with no sign of improvement in the short term.

In 2026 alone, the UK experienced one of its warmest springs on record, followed by a summer that brought record-breaking warmth and one of the driest Julys in nearly 200 years. Paired with recent years pushing global heat records, unpredictable weather is becoming the new normal for British farmers.

In the 3rd season of the program, Jeremy Clarkson experiments to try and make a profit by ‘farming the unfarmed’. Examples include making blackberry jam, growing mushrooms in an old bunker, and rearing pigs. However, these endeavours still faced issues such as red tape, rising input costs, and mould.

One area that Jeremy has yet to consider is using part of his land to start a self-storage business with shipping containers. With the growing demand for self-storage, diversifying part of your land for this could provide a reliable income stream with low ongoing maintenance. This type of business isn't dependent on crop yields, extreme weather, energy costs, or escaping animals.

We have created a step-by-step guide to opening your own thriving self-storage business. This guide outlines the key benefits of farm diversification:

• High Profitability: Generating strong returns per square foot compared to traditional crops.
• Growing Demand: Meeting the surge in demand from domestic and business movers.
• Risk Spreading: Hedging against volatile agricultural markets.
• Weather Resilience: Consistent rental income regardless of rain or drought.

It also outlines every step needed, from writing a business plan to scaling your site once demand takes off.

Would Jeremy have to speak to his favorite people, the West Oxfordshire District Council, for planning permission to open a self-storage area? In short: almost certainly, yes. Setting up a commercial container storage business changes the land's use from agricultural to commercial storage (B8).

We have summarised how to navigate this process in our guide: ‘Do I Need Planning Permission for Storage Containers on my Farmland?’

https://www.1stcontainers.co.uk/do-i-need-planning-permission-for-storage-containers-on-my-farm-land/

If you have spare land and wish to diversify your business come and see us at our stand.