News

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 14th April 2022 The UK Government’s new British Energy Security Strategy, responding to the rising energy costs of the last year and now the Ukraine War, is better seen as a snapshot of work belatedly in progress, at differing stages needing more development and with much implementation to be done offering little immediate easing. Our energy networks have anyway been expected to come under pressure this decade as old...

Scottish Residential Tenancies Consultation The period for responding to the Scottish Government’s consultation on residential tenancies, A New Deal for Tenants, with its proposed changes to the law on private residential tenancies and its discussion of tied housing and housing in agricultural tenancies has been extended to close next Friday, 22nd April.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 7th April 2022 We are re-pricing the economy. This is not simply the larger impersonal movements of global commodity markets but the actions of suppliers and buyers, as each adjusts to changed circumstances. How far does each hold their ground or press their cause? What business adjustments does each make? What new things become practical? What old things have to change? This is perhaps still more an adjustment to a “new...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 31st March 2022 “I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.” (James Carville, Political Adviser to US President Bill Clinton) From the Chancellor to the supermarket and from the farm to the household, present circumstances and the last few months show...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 24th March 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has instantly removed a large supply of grain and oilseeds from markets immediately affecting prices in the already tight tail of the 2021 harvest. Forward markets seem to recognise that little may come from the Black Sea for the 2022 harvest. That naturally prompts discussion of food security though this means very different things in different contexts. From Joseph advising...

The Compulsory Purchase Association is seeking views from all those who undertake CPO work to assess the health and wellbeing of affected parties. The survey can be completed via this link.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 17th March 2022 The immediate and multiple human and economic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are reverberating around the world, further testing already disrupted supply chains and following the impact of the pandemic (still closing cities in China). With sharp movements in the prices and availability of gas, oil, metal and produce and consequent issues for fertiliser, there is much to consider in professional...

The 5th round auctions of the Woodland Carbon Guarantee Scheme will take place from midday on Monday 9th May to midday on Sunday 15th May 2022. The application deadline to take part in the auction is 11:59pm on Sunday 24 April. More detail can be found on the Government website. Our website note of 22nd November 2021 provide some background to the scheme....

The Basic Payment Scheme application window opened today (Tuesday 15th March) for 2022. Applicants have until 16th May to submit a claim. Guidance for 2022 is available here.

The Rural Payments service will not be available from 5pm Thursday 10th March to 9am Friday 11th March.

DEFRA has published a collection listing the various available streams of funding available to farmers. It can be found online here.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 3rd March 2022 “There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” A week ago, Russia invaded Ukraine unleashing an increasingly brutal assault against determined resistance in the breadbasket of Europe. The consequences, reaching far beyond Ukraine, are likely to echo for years. With the deaths, devastation and intended destruction of democracy and civil society, the early effects can...

The UK government has decided to grant an application for emergency authorisation to allow use of a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for the treatment of sugar beet seed in 2022. This is in recognition of the potential danger posed to the 2022 crop from beet yellows virus. The full details of the decision, as well as the conditions of the authorisation, are available here....

Russia invaded Ukraine on several fronts early this morning. As well as larger concerns about global gas markets (with consequences for fertiliser), early financial reports see: Brent crude oil at $101 a barrelupward pressure on grain, soya and metal markets with concerns about the disruption to flows of commodities. Ukraine is a major grain exporter. Russia is a major producer of commodities as well as energy (while gas has been noted it is the world’s second largest oil producer) and...

Manuals - The CAAV has asked for the new Manuals to be made available as pdfs and been assured that they are now being prepared for publication. Payment Rates - In a late revision, the proposed cut in the rate for OP4 (multi-species ley) has been reversed so that the rate will remain at £115/ha. This will not have been corrected in all the materials just published but is to be carried through into payments....

The deadline for all homes (not just those in the rented sector) to have interlinked smoke detectors installed, as well as carbon monoxide detectors, was 1st February 2022. CAAV note 23rd October 2020 provides further information.

Natural England and Natural Resources Wales have updated the Countryside Code advice for land managers. The document can be found online.

Natural England has received applications or expressions of interest for a Badger Disease Control Licence within the counties of Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon and Northamptonshire. Following DEFRA's guidance, an opportunity to comment on the applications has been opened. It should be noted that this is expressly not an opportunity to comment on bovine tuberculosis control policy more broadly, but is for those whose livelihoods and daily activities will be impacted by...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 3rd February 2022 The pressures and incentives for rural land use change continue to grow. However, the official policy frameworks for this are not yet in place even in England or clear as to operation and scale. Wales’ Sustainable Farming Scheme, Scottish land use policies and Northern Ireland’s framework are further away still. While commercial forestry is established and buoyant, these and similar markets, such as...

Base Rate increased today to 0.5%.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 27th January 2022 Climate change discussion has focused on its mitigation by carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Affecting society and the economy, this has particular consequences for land management, farming and buildings. However, adaptation is equally important. All forecasts point to significant further change, even if mitigation is as effective as intended by 2030 and 2050 – with so much of...

The High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill has been deposited into Parliament to seek the powers to build and operate the next section of the HS2 route. More information can be found via this link.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 20th January 2022 With the Commons Public Accounts Committee asking DEFRA how its proposed environmental schemes might affect food production in England and similar arguments elsewhere in the UK, these schemes should be put into some perspective. DEFRA has set out the broad outlines. As money is released from Basic Payment, 10 per cent is to support productivity improvement and 90 per cent goes to buy environmental change on...

DEFRA has announced that, following feedback during the early rounds, the Farming in a Protected Landscape Programme will now have rolling application window. This will allow applications to be submitted up until the programme closes in 2024. For more on the aims of the programme, and the funding available, see our website note of 25th June 2021....

The CAAV office will close for Christmas at 1 p.m. on Wednesday 22nd December 2021 and re-open on Tuesday 4th January 2022. May we take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 16th December 2021 The housing market is a market for people. A house sale or purchase is the largest transaction many make while a house may be home, with a sense of place as well as a potential financial assurance. A home-owning democracy was a mainstay of 20th century politics but tight supply and loose money have made housing unaffordable for many. The functioning of this market is a key political issue – often also a...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 9th December 2021 DEFRA has made the third of its Agricultural Transition Plan statements, this time largely on SFI 2022 focussed on soils but also with a larger policy speech. This follows the Plan of November 2020 and June’s announcements on SFI and DEFRA’s payment principles. This is and should be seen as a pattern of the progressive development, implementation and testing of new policies, with a flexibility possible...

The Scottish Government have published a reminder that applications for the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grants Scheme (SACGS), along with the relevant supporting documentation, should be submitted by 31st December. Completed claims and supporting documents should be emailed to local Area Offices. Applications already submitted will need to have the relevant documentation by that date as well. More information can be found online....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 2nd December 2021 With strong commodity prices (and their input costs), one established trend has been the growing strength of commercial forestry with harvested timber’s uses from construction to biomass now having more value as part of reducing carbon emissions in the wider economy. Economics and policies make this a different market from farm woodlands or from using standing trees to sequester carbon or offset...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 25th November 2021 It is striking that, while waiting for the mystery of England’s new housing policies to be revealed by Michael Gove, the last eight days have seen Wales and Scotland developing housing packages that interlock local taxation with planning control and licences: the close of the Welsh consultation on Council Tax and potential premiums for second homes and the qualification for business rates on holiday...

The Ministry of Justice has opened a consultation on changes to the Housing Legal Aid programme. The main proposals are: remodel the delivery to become a new Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), incorporating both the existing service of advice and representation at court but also early legal advice before courtexpanding the scope of legal aid so that HLPAS providers can offer early legal advice on social welfare law matters to individuals facing procession proceedingscontracts for...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 18th November 2021 The national, rural and agricultural economies need more good businesses to face the expected challenges of this decade. For all the developing policies and larger national objectives, the economy and so living standards and public services rest on improving business performance. That means providing what people will pay well for, doing so efficiently with the greatest ratio between outputs and inputs –...

The Farming Investment Fund was launched on 16th November and, within that, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) is now open for applications until 7th January 2022. Details are covered in this CAAV webnote The full and expanded list of items eligible for FETF with their specification and the grant payable on each is set out in this note on the Gov.uk website....