Every year we ask our panel members what’s working, what’s not, and what you’d like to see more of. This year, 520 of you took the time to answer – Sorry If you missed it but with a busy summer we only had a week in the schedule to run it!
Pleasingly, a good number of you didn’t stop at ticking boxes, you told us exactly what’s on your mind. So here’s the honest, no-nonsense version of what came back.
The headline numbers
- 89% of you are satisfied with being part of Five Bar Gate
- 97% would recommend the panel to another farmer
- Around 4 in 10 of you used the open comment box to raise something specific
That’s a good base to build from — but the real value came from what you wrote in your own words. Here’s what stood out.
What you told us is already working
A big chunk of you didn’t ask for anything at all — you just wanted to say it’s good as it is:
“I enjoy taking part and I find the surveys are well written. An awful lot of marketing and research surveys are garbage so it’s a pleasure to complete well designed ones.”
“Please retain the easy transparent communication – Five Bar is what it is because it’s farmer friendly & no nonsense.”
“I feel like I’m a member of a community with FBG.”
That’s genuinely good to hear, and it’s not something we take for granted.
What you’d like to see more of
We also asked what else you’d be interested in. Product testing came out well ahead of everything else — which chimes with something we’re already exploring: connecting farmers keen to host trials with companies who want real-world results from real farms.
Where you told us we need to do better
You were just as ready to point out where things are falling short — and we’d rather know than not.
Surveys that don’t fit your farm. The most common complaint: getting partway through a survey only to be told you don’t qualify, or being sent surveys that have nothing to do with what you actually do.
“Quite annoying when you start a survey get so far no then you say you do not qualify to do it.”
Payments not coming through. A number of you said you completed a survey with an incentive attached and never received it.
“I never got anything for the surveys I completed.”
Too much contact, or the wrong kind. A handful of you told us you’re not keen on the idea of a WhatsApp group, mainly over privacy — not wanting your number visible to other farmers — and a few said you’re already juggling enough channels as it is. We will stick to emails for now but we might try using text messaging and Whatsapps to alert you when something goes live.
Surveys filling up too fast. Several of you said that by the time you find a spare moment to log in, the survey’s already full — which means we might be missing the views of busier farmers or those who don’t check email constantly.
A few technical gremlins, mainly surveys not behaving well on phones.
What we’re changing because of this
Off the back of your feedback, here’s what we’re putting in place:
- Clearer screening upfront — surveys will tell you at the start that there’s a short set of questions to check whether the study’s a fit for your farm, so there are no surprises partway through.
- Sorting out payments — we’re tightening up how incentive payments are confirmed and followed up, and our team will keep an eye on queries directly.
- Fixing the phone bugs — we’re building in a feedback loop so glitches get picked up and fixed faster.
- Being fairer on survey capacity — we’re looking at holding back a few spaces for people who take a bit longer to respond, rather than closing a survey the moment a quota’s hit.
- WhatsApp — still an open question. Nearly half of you like the idea, but we’re weighing it up carefully, particularly around keeping your details private, before deciding how (or whether) it fits alongside email, which remains by far the channel you use and trust most.
- Showing you the impact — you told us you want to know what happens with your answers, so we’re introducing a proper “You Said, We Did” update, along with regular round-ups of what your input has actually led to.
One more thing you told us
We also asked a slightly different question: which organisations do you think need to understand farmers better? The answer was pretty clear — 63% of you said government and policymakers, well ahead of industry bodies, retailers, or anyone else.
“Decisions are being made about farmers, not with them.”
That’s a strong, consistent message, and it’s one we’ll keep in mind as we think about what research the panel takes on next.
Thank you
Whether you filled in a five-minute survey or wrote us a paragraph in the feedback box, thank you. It genuinely shapes what we do next — and we’ll keep you posted on how.