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The phrase ‘the squeezed middle’ – sometimes used to refer to mid-income households – has relevance to the viticulture sector. Thought to have been first used by Ed Miliband or Gordon Brown, the expression came to mind recently when the team and I were doing some number-crunching. We were studying the data for hundreds of […]

The Vineyard Show, due to be held at the Kent Event Centre Near Maidstone on the 24th November 2021, is taking shape.  CLM will be sponsoring this event and Matthew Berryman shares his thoughts.   Read the full article here ……..

There has been much talk recently about the government’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Billed as a ‘stepping stone’ scheme for English farmers, bridging the 2022-2024 gap ahead of the introduction of the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMS), it hit the headlines in September. DEFRA Secretary of State George Eustice has, however, been making reference to […]

It is hard to believe four years have passed since the UK voted to leave the EU. Many thought the referendum result would impact lifestyles in ways not experienced for generations. Opposing points of view divided families and shortened political careers. Economists filled columns with untested theories predicting either economic disaster or unparalleled growth; for […]

This autumn will have come none too soon for many South East farmers. It’s been a harvest to forget; wet weather last autumn left growers struggling to get wheat in the ground, and then the dry spring and wet weather during August took their toll. The NFU reckons yields could be down by about a […]

The countryside is opening its doors, after the financial and psychological trauma of lockdown. Some vineyards are again offering tours and other events and, while the effects of Covid-19 will be felt for many years, there is still cause for optimism in the medium and long term. The pandemic will speed the trend towards the […]

All eyes in the shooting community have been focused on Wild Justice’s demands for a judicial review into game bird release, but a lesser publicised planning decision could also have big implications. The authorities recently rejected an appeal against an enforcement notice which restricted the number of shooting days on a much-respected South Downs estate. […]

‘Planning’ and ‘simple’ are two words that rarely go together. As anyone who has had dealings with it will know, the planning system can be complex, confusing and costly. The existence of Permitted Development Rights (PDRs), however, offer farmers a streamlined – and, yes, simple – process for erecting or converting buildings. Assuming you meet […]

What is the perfect vineyard site? We all know the prerequisites for vines to thrive – south-facing, less than 300 feet above sea level, high average temperatures, low frost risk and free draining soils. But often less appreciated is the fact that a successful vineyard has other requirements nearly as important as the quality of […]

The Coronavirus outbreak has thrown many vineyards into crisis, but visitor-based revenues will still underpin incomes for many in the longterm, making site-selection ever-more crucial, says Matthew Berryman. A lot of viticulturists can’t think further ahead than the next week – or even the next day – at present, as they fight to keep businesses […]

“Up horn, down corn”  is an old agricultural saying that, like many old agricultural sayings, is as relevant today as it has ever been. It is, or course, a clarion call for the benefits of mixed farming, highlighting how the fortunes of the various sectors are rarely in step and how tough times in one […]

The Covid-19 crisis is likely to prompt more conversations about succession than ever before.  Mark Weaver of CLM considers why – and shares some tips on securing your farm or estate’s long term future by making this potentially painful process happen smoothly and effectively. The coronavirus crisis will result in big changes to rural businesses […]

The Sun isn’t my usual paper of choice, but I couldn’t help but notice a huge advert on the front of it recently. “Thank you to British Farmers”  the full page message from the supermarket Morrisons proclaimed, recognising the sterling work done by farmers keeping food on the nation’s tables during the coronavirus crisis. The […]

We’ve already got a lot of acronyms in farming. There’s BPS, NVZ, GMs, SSSI, AONBs and the RPA just for starters.  We’ll need to get used to a new one, though – BNG. It stands for Biodiversity Net Gain and it might just prove to be one of the most important concepts some farmers can […]

Farming has received some bad press recently, which I felt the wider effects of while chatting with a grazier who was rounding up escaped sheep. We suspected the poor animals had probably had enough of being pushed around the field by various dog walkers and had attempted the ovine equivalent of The Great Escape.  It […]

In all the ‘excitement’ of Brexit over recent months, you would be forgiven for missing a recent and important new piece of legislation relating to let property, which came into force last March. ‘The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018’ received Royal Assent on 20 December 2018 and has amended the Landlord and Tenant Act […]

Cast your mind back twenty years to the dawn of the new millennium. The world was gripped with excitement and a sense of optimism marred only by predictions of planes falling from the skies, trains grinding to a halt and banks in meltdown as a result of a Y2K software bug. But when the day […]

Extra acres present industry with big processing challenge The acreage of vines planted in recent years is encouraging evidence of the huge optimism in the sector, but it’s creating a challenge which the industry is yet to fully address – where do we find the processing capacity? According to WineGB Chairman Simon Robinson, plantings of […]

Charlotte Smith and her panel of experts were on fine form at the South of England Farming Conference at Ardingly on November 13.  One of the strong early memories of my working  career was attending this conference with Tim Calcutt. It has been a regular diary fixture ever since and it is matter of great […]

From smash-and-grab bushwhacking to an altogether more refined and sophisticated process. Sam Barnes went to the SITEVI show in France two years ago with a very specific aim – to visit every machine harvesting stand and ask about potentially operating such a machine in Britain. “Some people were enthusiastic, some were indifferent – and some […]