Agriculture Acts 1920 and 2020

One hundred years ago the Agriculture Act 1920 sought to provide farmers with the confidence they needed to expand their arable acreage to ensure a reliable and plentiful supply of home grown food. It did this by guaranteeing a minimum price for oats and wheat into the indefinite future. The Act also promised that the …

Where next with Natural Capital?

Catch up with the latest on natural capital and the progress of government legislation on the countryside

Trusts and trustees of rural property and land

Many rural estates and properties are held in trust. The responsibilities of a trustee are amongst the widest an individual can assume. The economic, environmental and social responsibility of a trustee is therefore vast. These responsibilities continue through thick or thin. It is therefore timely that the next session of the #RuBrief online rural CPD …

Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero UK

Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero UK is the latest report from the Committee on Climate Change chaired by Lord Deben, who as John Selwyn Gummer was Secretary of State for Agriculture 1989 to 1993 and then Environment 1993 to 1997.  It is the latest important publication to call for big changes in farming …

ENCA:Enabling a Natural Capital Approach

ENCA is the broad title to a substantial amount of material published today by Defra (Department for Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs).  Spread across a number of web pages the new material includes: Guidance Assessment templates A services databook - around 200 sources of valuation evidence for: ecosystem services like food production, flood regulation and …