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The report into a pilot of results-based payments for agri-environment schemes, hot off the press, makes for fascinating reading. Published last month by Natural England and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, it outlines the findings into a two-year trial featuring 34 farmers across 230ha. Farmers, so it proclaims, welcomed the freedom to use their […]

When faced with a deadline, there are a number of common responses. 1. Get the job done as quickly as possible without much thought to what you are setting out to achieve. 2. Procrastinate, which often leads to missing the deadline or simply turns into a slower way of arriving at response 1. 3. Give […]

What? Where? When? How? Why? These are just some of the questions grape growers and wine makers should be asking themselves to help formulate a ‘route-to-market’ plan at the start of their journey into viticulture.   With figures suggesting vine plantings are set to double between 2019 and 2024 (having already done so between 2011 and […]

In the last seven years the area under vines has doubled to over 3,500 hectares and there is no sign this trend is slowing down. It’s hardly surprising there is a loud buzz; with 500 commercial vineyards and 170 wineries there is a surge of optimism rarely found in traditional farming sectors. What is fuelling […]

Now is a great time to invest in buildings – it can increase efficiency, bring new opportunities and future-proof your business against whatever Brexit might bring. So is now the moment for vineyards to seize the initiative and start building? Favourable permitted development regulations, the availability of cheap fi nance and the contribution that buildings […]

Right now, the only certainty is uncertainty. Whatever your views, 2019 will be a watershed and with only days until the big change few, if any, can reliably predict the winners and losers. As frustrating as it is there is little point worrying about the economic landscape beyond 29 March. Some sectors will thrive in […]

Let’s get straight to the point. If we exit without a deal it is highly likely that farming is going to feel the effect more than most. The table opposite speaks for itself. More than 90% of UK produced crops go to the EU. It is true that imports from the EU are broadly in […]

There was once a time when farming was guided by the weather, the soil and no small amount of hard work. Unfortunately those days are now just a distant memory. There is a phenomenon that increasingly has a great deal of bearing on our industry. We saw it recently with the whole sorry episode surrounding […]

“We’re not going to mention the B word.” Whether it’s referring to Brexit or Boris, that has been a common refrain at the start of most of the events we’ve been involved with or attending over the last few weeks. From the CLA’s ‘Getting to Grips with Grapes’ seminars to a talk on policing at […]

‘It’s time to go native.’ A recent cover of Country Life fascinated me. I’ll be honest, it’s usually the magazine’s property pages I flick to fi rst (for what, I hasten to add, is very much ‘lottery’ house shopping), but this grabbed my attention. My mind boggled at what the glossy might be about to […]

Now is a great time to invest in buildings – it can increase effi ciency, bring new opportunities and future-proof your business against whatever Brexit might bring. So is now the moment to seize the initiative and start building? Favourable permitted development regulations, the availability of cheap fi nance and the contribution that buildings can […]

In a world where much is unknown, here’s one thing we do know: Farms will see a huge drop in direct subsidy payments over the next nine years. A 200ha (500 acre) farm received a BPS payment of £45,700 in 2018; dependent upon fl uctuations in the exchange rate, this will be similar in 2019 […]

Farmers have incorporated non-food enterprises into their businesses for years.  When “diversifi cation” was fi rst allied to agriculture it coincided with some major events; the introduction of milk quotas in 1984, the BSE crisis in the 90s and the downturn in arable profi tability in the late 80s and early 90s. All demanded the […]

  Bill and Ben are at their local.  “The boss is still talking about going to 300 milkers. An extra 50 cows won’t make much difference to the workload but what happens if there is no one to buy the milk?” They chat about Brexit and conclude they know far too little about WTO or […]

Winter is conference and farm discussion group season. In the past, my attendance has always peaked to coincide with a review of the Common Agricultural Policy. It is perhaps no surprise then that I find myself attending these events on a frequent basis this winter. If we thought shifting from SPS to BPS and ELS […]

Our industry is populated by SME entrepreneurs who aren’t in general afraid of anything, but mention succession – whether through inheritance or retirement – and the tension levels rise. I recently had the privilege of speaking to a farmer discussion group about succession planning. It’s a topic that’s close to my heart and this group’s […]

Sometimes the devil is in the detail and as a detail man, lack of it worries me. We are told by government that “the Agriculture Bill provides for a range of enabling powers to ensure stability for farmers as the UK exits from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and compliance with the World Trade Organisation […]

The Agriculture bill in numbers, Countryside Stewardship Scheme and Planning and Development

29 March 2019 will be a watershed. Currently, the 33.6 million that voted in the referendum watch with increasing disbelief as UK leaders attempt to negotiate an exit from the European Union while parties fight openly among themselves. And as for the exit process this appears to do no more than stagger from side to […]

Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Stellenbosch and Tuscany; all are recognised for producing quality wines with reputations established over centuries of consistent production. Is it now plausible to include Southern England alongside this illustrious list and, if so, should viticulture be an option for your land? Consider the current size of the UK wine sector. In 2015 […]