Farming: Whole Farm Approach - Your Questions
What is the Whole Farm Approach?
The Whole Farm Approach is an online service for farmers and growers in England.
The WFA aims to support the farming industry by improving customer services, coordinating and streamlining on-farm inspections, providing targeted advice and ensuring better policy development.
To see the services that are available on the Whole Farm Approach, please use the Guest Account.
Who is behind the Whole Farm Approach?
The Whole Farm Approach is coordinated by Defra to bring together Government departments and agencies that support and regulate the farming industry; these are known as the WFA Partners. The Whole Farm Approach is developed with farmers for farmers.
Who are the WFA Partners?
The WFA has been developed by Defra in partnership with other key industry bodies that support the initiative and its ongoing development. These organisations include:
- Animal Health
- English Heritage
- Environment Agency
- Food Standards Agency
- Health & Safety Executive
- National Farmers Union
- Natural England
- Rural Payments Agency
What is the Appraisal?
The Appraisal is a number of electronic self-assessment questionnaires that seek information on your current activities; it also seeks information on some of the wider aspects of farming, for example health and safety. It is a convenient place to keep all the core data about your farm and it helps to raise awareness of the range of current and planned legislation that may affect you and the farming industry.
The Appraisal is offered in two formats:
- Online (web) version
- CDRom version
How do I use the Appraisal?
- Online: You can work online using the link on the WFA Homepage at www.wholefarm.defra.gov.uk. This way is most suitable for broadband users.
- Offline: If you prefer to work offline you can use the CDRom enclosed with your registration pack.
It is best to choose one way or the other as data may be lost if you have not submitted your data before switching between the two.
Do I have to complete the Appraisal in one sitting?
No. The Appraisal is divided into Questionnaires and you can complete and submit each one individually. You can also complete each questionnaire in stages, saving as you go along. At any time you can leave it and can come back, picking up from where you left off and submitting it once you’ve finished.
What computer equipment do I need?
If your computer is less than three years old, you are unlikely to have a problem with accessing the WFA; however we recommend that the system you use as a minimum meets the following requirements
- A computer - desktop or laptop (unfortunately at this time WFA does not support Macs)
- 128MB of RAM, 600MB of available hard disk space to install then 370MB thereafter to run
- A display resolution of 800x600 and 256 colours (1024x768 resolution recommended)
- An internet connection (broadband is quicker)
- Internet Explorer version 6 or higher
- JavaScript enabled
- CD drive (for CDRom format of the Appraisal only)
If you use a firewall or security program you may need to ensure that it allows the Appraisal to communicate across the internet. The Appraisal program will be referred to as either ‘Win Questionnaire Main Program’ or ‘WinQuestionnaire.exe’.
How will my data be protected?
Defra takes the protection of your data very seriously. The WFA website has been designed to be compliant with the International Standards Organisation's standard on IT security (ISO 17799). We use a range of security measures to protect your information using technologies commonly used by secure commercial and government websites.
'Defra's Data Protection Policy' can be found at the following address: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/opengov/personaldata.htm
Who will use my data?
To achieve our objective of reducing the burdens on farmers and growers, your data will be shared with those WFA Partners who have a legitimate need relating to the enforcement of farming or health and safety related legislation and who would be likely to ask for the information in their own right. However, only data which is relevant to the area covered by that particular partner will be shared.
What will happen when new partners join? Will they automatically get to see my data?
New partners will automatically get access to relevant WFA data. However, participants will be notified when new partners do join. All partners involved with WFA must comply with the Data Protection Act (1998), and use data in accordance with the WFA Data Protection Statement and support the "reducing regulatory burdens" ethos of WFA.
Page last modified: 17 June 2008
Page published: 13 September 2005