News

November 2020 – “Stepping-Stone” support welcome, but let’s not reinvent the wheel

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.

October 2020 – Autumn planning brings Countryside Stewardship back into focus

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.

September 2020 – Identify the key factors

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.

August 2020 – Shooting’s role, sporting community needs to highlight pursuit’s vital place in rural “ecosystems”

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.

July 2020 – Don’t miss “golden” opportunity PDRs present for building

‘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.

June 2020 – Diverse businesses better placed to prosper in post-covid countryside

“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 often coincide with periods of relative prosperity in another.

June 2020 – Coronavirus crisis brings succession planning into focus

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.

May 2020 – Agricultural policy could be rewritten

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.

April 2020 – BNG could be an acronym that farmers learn to love

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 be involved with over the coming years.

March 2020 – Farmers, the Caretakers of £1 trillion asset

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.