The Farmer Network has been awarded £350,000 in funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
The network, based in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales, will use the funding to further develop their provision and to create a new Northumberland Farmer Network.
The Farmer Network, which is run by farmers, provides support to agricultural businesses across the region, ranging from saving on costs to mental health.
It was created during times of hardship in the years following the foot and mouth epidemic of 2001.
The new Lottery funding will be used to support the group to work with local farmers to improve connectivity and increase local skills and employability.
The grant will also be used to encourage farmers to embrace new ways of working to enhance the environment whilst continuing to produce food.
Adam Day, managing director of the Farmer Network said: “This grant means that we can build our relationships much wider to bring people together, offer business support and improve well-being for the farming community.
"The new network will be run by famers for the benefit of farmers. Our job is to facilitate and help manage the process.
"This is an exciting time for our organisation and we hope that we can make a difference to the lives of the farming and wider rural community.”
Adam Watson, who farms in Northumberland and is a Farmer Network steering group member, said there "has never been a more important time to create a Farmer Network in Northumberland".
"This time of change in the farming industry away from Basic Payment to Environmental Land Management is new and challenging to most farming families, particularly in upland areas.
"I look forward to the support that the new network will offer in order to help us through," he said.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK.
