Environmental payments: goldmine or minefield?

Seller Beware! This is our key message to farmers on the terms on which environmental payments may be offered.

Supermarkets run out of food again

Last year it was eggs. Now it is fresh veg, salad and tomatoes. Problems in Morocco and Southern Spain are some of the reasons given. The NFU (National Farmers' Union) at its conference this week highlights the reduction of home production in the face of high energy and feed costs. The government offers the reassurance …

Blizzard of environmental land management news

Defra has made numerous announcements over the last week or so. We have an update on the 25 year Environment Plan. More important for rural land managers we also have an announcement on stacking and bundling various environmental services which can be offered from the same piece of land. This is a really important announcement …

Agricultural tenants and the tyranny of the trees

Rumours circulate that some landlords and their agents are threatening to invoke section 31 of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 to remove land from traditional agricultural tenancies in order to plant trees. It is worth a look at the legal measures which are being suggested here. Section 31 of the Act does indeed permit landlords …

1947 Rules of Good Husbandry: of their time or for all times?

Are the Rules of Good Husbandry an obstacle for tenant farmers who wish to seize new environmental opportunities? There is a belief abroad that they may constitute a very serious obstacle, but how credible is this? The current Rules of Good Husbandry are set out in section 11 of the Agriculture Act 1947. The general …