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Jeremy's Blog 12th November 2021: Nature and Measurement

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 11th November 2021 The theme of nature recovery has gathered political force over the last decade, since the Lawton Report, Making Space for Nature, and DEFRA’s 2011 Natural Environment White Paper. From David Cameron’s concern, the 25 Year Environment Plan published under Theresa May’s premiership to the new Environment Act, the theme, summarised by George Eustice in July 2020 is that: “This Government’s pledge is...

CAAV POWER CUT – THURSDAY 11TH NOVEMBER

CAAV POWER CUT – THURSDAY 11TH NOVEMBER CAAV e-mails and other services are likely to be disrupted for most of Thursday 11th November as Western Power Distribution has warned that, with local high voltage works in hand, it is cutting off power to the area from 8.30am until later afternoon, though these times are taken as approximate. Arrangements have been made to divert the telephone lines and to handle examinations traffic. Normal service should then be resumed. Alternatively, please call...

Jeremy's Blog 5th November 2021: Animals

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 4th November 2021 Animal welfare concerns now have an increased prominence, breadth and reach in Government policies, with a political force that should not be underrated. The Government has two animal welfare Bills in Parliament: the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill and the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill – each with potentially significant consequences. The 2017 election crystallised the new moment. The Conservative...

Jeremy's Blog 29th October 2021: Government Policy

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th October 2021 While the Government wrestles on a day-to-day basis with many areas of policy, it shows a sustained strategic direction for environmental and, within that, agricultural policy. While buffeted by events, the realities of government and practical issues of implementation, the approach, pre-dating Boris Johnson’s premiership, can be summarised as: the goal of environmental improvement, embracing climate...

Jeremy's Blog 22nd October: The Climate Change Journey

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 21st October 2021 Net zero by 2050 – a short and simple phrase for vast and complex changes across society and the economy over a generation. The Government has taken another set of steps on this road with this week’s series of papers setting out more policies, actions and more intermediate targets as it tackles domestic policy and seeks to lead the COP26 summit. Both require detailed practical policies, blending...

211022 UK Agriculture Evidence Pack

DEFRA has published a visual evidence pack for the latest statistical data on UK Agriculture, covering areas including productivity, natural capital values and import : export figures. The document provides a useful and accessible overview of the current position of the sector....

Jeremy's Blog 15th October 2021: Supply Chains and Adaptation

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 14th October 2021 It is a complex world. Today’s disrupted supply chain issues overlay the adjustments of the post-Brexit process, in turn overlaying the long run pressures of climate change. The global disruption of the pandemic is now rippling down the seasons like water sloshing when carrying a bowl. The waves of the pandemic were followed by strong recoveries in demand but supply chains frustrated as Chinese ports...

Jeremy's Blog 8th October 2021: Land Use and Planning

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 7th October 2021 Boris Johnson’s speech yesterday to the Conservative Party Conference is another step in the mystery of the Government’s developing land use policies – indeed of “levelling up”. The pattern is for his high level statements to be developed later by ministers. It could intend extensive land use change. After a paeon to the UK’s landscape of “untouched moorlands” and “broadleaf forests”...

Soil Management Plan Guidance

DEFRA has updated its guidance on creating and using a soil management plan. This information may be of interest to those land managers entering into the Sustainable Farming Incentive Pilot or considering soil and environmental management of their land. The guidance is available here.

Jeremy's Blog 1st October 2021: The World of Farm Advice

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 30th September 2021 There is much discussion now about the need for farmers and landowners to be well advised. The need is clear with the scale of change and challenge for businesses and families: facing the withdrawal of Basic Payment in England and then Wales, with its prospective reduction and revision in Scotland and Northern Ireland. more commercial and changing markets and new technologiesthe effects of climate change...

Jeremy's Blog 24th September 2021: Risks and Resilience - The Lessons of CO2

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 23rd September 2021 “‘Just in time’; that’s almost late”: a Cornish manufacturer’s description to me in December 2018 of the then supply chains. Current experience endorses his view of the weaknesses in ultra-efficient systems, lacking resilience when facing the problems we see on a national, continental and global basis. Stocks have been seen as a cost, an insurance provision not worth paying. The risks in...

210921 England: NVZ Designated Areas

Following their 4-yearly review of Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) designated areas in December 2020, DEFRA have announced that no substantial changes in the patterns of nitrate pollution in England have been found. Accordingly, designated areas remain the same for 2021 to 2024. A map of designated areas can be found here. More information, including how to challenge the inclusion of land within a designated area, can be found on the Government website....

Jeremy's Blog 17th September 2021: Social Care, Planning and Tax

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 16th September 2021 The fascinating politics of the last few days reveal serious conundrums as the government navigates between its existing voters wanting protection and the needs of its potential voters.While little may have been done to reform or even fund social care, the threat of crippling care costs to existing homeowners and their heirs appears reduced. It is now reported that their concerns see teeth drawn from the...

Jeremy's Blog 10th September 2021: Carbon and Other Deals

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 9th September 2021 The fledgling world of transactions for environmental commitments is very young and potentially very innocent. It may match the early days for solar panels after Feed-in Tariffs were introduced in spring 2010 when initial activity moved faster than understanding or clearer perspective on value, opportunity and risk. We see a shifting balance from agreements for running payments for actions (common in...

Jeremy Moody's Blog 3rd September 2021: Supply Chains

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 2nd September 2021 From the start of the pandemic, the Government’s concern has been to maintain contracts and activity in the economy. It has done so with measures such as the furlough scheme protecting employment contracts and grants and loans to tide businesses through. The resilience of the food supply chain passed its test last spring. As lockdown has eased, so the economy regained ground and unemployment stayed low....

CAAV EXAMINATIONS 2021

We are now processing the applications for this year’s examination on 10th and 11th November and will be confirming acceptance to the good number of candidates who have come forward. For those who are also taking the RICS APC this autumn we are aware that an IT problem in RICS’ ARC system is leading it to slip its timetables including those for APC interviews. We are in touch with the RICS with a view to ensuring that there are no clashes for candidates. We will brief further as soon as the...

Jeremy's Blog 27th August 2021: New Policies to Challenge Many

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 26th August 2021 All parts of the UK are now shaping future agricultural policy. This week’s consultation paper from Scotland and policy framework from Northern Ireland follow England’s implementation of change and the Welsh Government’s confirmation of next year’s Agriculture Bill.Policies for climate change and biodiversity have increasing priority alongside wider environmental concerns and business performance. The...

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Free IT Advice for Farmers in Herefordshire & Gloucestershire

Farmers in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire can attend free workshops and one-to-one advice sessions, covering a range of IT topics, such as new software, hardware, use of social media, online marketing and websites. Offered as part of Fastershire's Business Support Programme, 'Faster Farmers' is one of the initiatives linked with the rollout of cable broadband in the area.

Jeremy's Blog 20th August 2021: Business Perspective for Farming Choices

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 19th August 2021 The old saying is that a farmer only controls what is under his boot. Weather, governments, markets and all are external, to be taken as they come. Looking to what can be controlled is particularly important at such a time of change. The problem is less uncertainty than perspective, seeing where value, reward and risk really lie. Too great a focus on the changing landscape of schemes draws the eye and mind...

Jeremy's Blog 13th August 2021: Tenancy Agreements

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 12th August 2021 The CAAV has now published new editions of the model FBTs for England: one for largely bare land agreements for two years or less, the other for longer agreements and more fully equipped land – weblinks given below. New editions for Wales were issued earlier in the year. Revisions last year responded to Brexit; these pick up on the new policies under the Agriculture Act and the Environment Bill. They are...

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Government to Trial installing Fibre Optic in Water Pipes

The Government has announced plans to trial the rollout of broadband by utilising existing water pipes to install fibre optic cables. This new scheme could support the £5 billion Project Gigabit plan to level up broadband access in hard-to-reach areas as well as the £1 billion Shared Rural Network, which aims to create reliable 4G phone signals to many of the most isolated parts of the country....

Jeremy's Blog 6th August 2021: Managing Risks in Environmental Agreements

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 5th August 2021 Understanding risks is a key part of making a market work. A buyer wants to know exactly what is being bought; the seller wants to contain the risks in that. Market pressures, contract law, consumer protection and other interventions seek to help with means, like the Land Registry, to authenticate major assets. Environmental agreements, including biodiversity gain, have risks as much as any other transaction....

Nothing New Under The Sun - Agricultural Valuers At Work 4000 Years Ago

Clay tablets can last longer than parchment, papyrus and paper, keeping records of contracts, debts and now of the sale of part of a field in central Iraq four millennia ago. Dr Daniel Mansfield of the University of New South Wales has shown that, with the legal details, the Old Babylonian tablet Si.427 records the right angled triangles used to measure the areas and give more exact rectangles than in earlier tablet to get the boundaries right, towards 1900BC and over a thousand years before...

Jeremy's Blog 30th July 2021: Life of the Profession

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th July 2021 The further easing of pandemic restrictions enabled by widespread vaccination and past infections opens up thoughts of how the personal and social side of professional life, business and fellowship might resume. We are looking at what the new balance might be that, across the range of ways we work, combines efficient professional support and the social interaction of a wider life. While judging risk, there is...

Jeremy's Blog 23rd July 2021: Planning

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd July 2021 The Government in London is clearing desks before Parliament goes into Recess tonight. Tuesday saw statements on planning policy for housing in England, one of the most significant controversies for the coming months. The bones of the policy set out in August 2020’s White Paper are for: 300,000 houses a year, allocated where house price/local earnings ratios show demand councils to identify growth...

Scottish Home Energy Efficiency Programmes: Area Based Schemes

The Scottish Government has announced an increase to the funding that will be available for the 2021/22 period for the area based Home Energy Efficiency Programmes. Area Based Schemes are delivered by local authorities targeting fuel poor areas and communities. Funding also targets the 'hardest to treat' properties which require external wall or complex cavity wall insulation, making homes warmer and less expensive to heat. £64 million - an increase of £9 million on last year - will be made...

Countryside Stewardship: Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Exemption Guidance

DEFRA has released the latest list of Countryside Stewardship options that are available on land that has been designated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as conditionally exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT) or as the object of a Maintenance Fund. Options may be excluded to avoid the issue of double funding: for example, where it is already a requirement of IHT Heritage Relief to maintain historic parkland, funding for the same activities will not be available through Countryside Stewardship....

Jeremy's Blog 16th July 2021: Land Use

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 15th July 2021 The House of Lords Committee stage on the Environment Bill has considered biodiversity gain, the proposal that all development should ensure a net 10 per cent in biodiversity, whether on-site, off-site or by a payment to a fund, with 30 year agreements to secure the change. Alongside other costs and policies, it will guide where development might go amid the conflicting pressures from housing to wildlife,...

Tamworth potato processor fined £6,500 for water pollution incident

A Tamworth potato processor has been fined £6,500 for a pollution incident killing over 450 fish. The company pleaded guilty to an offence under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations, 2010. A total financial penalty of £21,264 was imposed on the company which included a contribution to prosecution costs of £10,000. The pollution resulted from a split pipe pumping into the lagoon, and a crude attempt had been made to repair it. This was discharging into a ditch then...

Jeremy's Blog 9th July 2021: Extreme Heat

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 8th July 2021 Government announcements will see yet more focus not only on mitigating climate change (just now modelled by the Office for Budget Responsibility to cost Government less than its Covid measures) but also on adapting to and preparing for the new conditions. The UK, leaning into the Atlantic at median latitudes, appears better buffered from extreme change than many parts of the world but that is relative. The...

Welsh Government announces three-pronged approach to address "second home crisis"

On 6th July, The Welsh Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, set out an “ambitious three-pronged approach” to address the impact of second home ownership on Wales’ communities. The three-pronged approach will focus on: support - addressing affordability and availability of housing,regulatory framework and system - covering planning law and the introduction of a statutory registration scheme for holiday accommodation; anda fairer contribution - using national and local taxation...

Jeremy's Blog 2nd July 2021: Environmental Payments

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 1st July 2021 Seven months after the Agriculture Act and England’s Agricultural Transition Plan with its new schemes, DEFRA has published its approach to payments for environmental land management above the regulatory baseline. The Welsh Government has talked of payments appropriate for the value of environmental services achieved. Both have high ambitions to achieve real environmental improvement, knowing that needs a new...

DEFRA Webinars on the Lump Sum/Delinking Consultation

DEFRA is running three webinars to talk through its proposals in the lump sum exit scheme and delinking consultation with the opportunity to ask questions. The links to each webinar are: Tuesday 6th July 15:00-16:00 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/defra-lump-sum-exit-scheme-delinking-consultation-webinar-tickets-160972076815 Wednesday 7th July 16:00-17:00 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/defra-lump-sum-exit-scheme-delinking-consultation-webinar-tickets-161202572233 Thursday 8th...

Jeremy's Blog 25th June 2021: Markets

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 24th June 2021 In the more agricultural world of two hundred years ago, the economist David Ricardo summarised pricing in a market economy: “Corn is not high because rent is paid, but rent is paid because corn is high.” The price of corn rises with the demand for it since, in Adam Smith’s phrase of forty years earlier, “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production”. Production has no value unless...

Commercial Rents – Code of Practice in the Pandemic

MHCLG has today advised that while the Code of Practice for commercial property relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic was due to expire today it is now extended until 25th March 2022 but with a commitment to review it before then. The Government is working on the new measures it announced last week, including an arbitration system, and hopes to announce its conclusions in due course....

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Jeremy's Blog 18th June 2021: Schedule of Time Limits

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 17th June 2021 The completion of the tenancy legislation for England under the Agriculture Act 2020 has prompted a new edition of the CAAV’s Schedule of Time Limits for Valuers and a moment for reflection before it goes to members with the News Letter, the Agricultural Tenancies Update and Value to an Incoming Tenant. There is continuity. With statutory tenancy regimes, previous Schedules have long aided members since...

Jeremy's Blog 11th June 2021: Conference Review

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 10th June 2021 The CAAV’s Annual National Conference, being held virtually on Thursday 24th June with support from the AMC, McParland Finn and Michelmores, is one key part of the Association’s life. Ordinarily, it is a major opportunity for renewing fellowship with other members and guests from across the country and further afield. As a conference, it covers current subjects with either a range or a focus that takes...

Jeremy's Blog 4th June 2021: Regulation

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 3rd June 2021 The DEFRA lump sum and delinking consultation expressly notes that: “Delinking will also bring an end to the “cross compliance” system for BPS recipients. Cross compliance is currently integral to how we regulate many of our important environmental and animal health and welfare legislative standards.” Wales will face that with the move from BPS to the Sustainable Farming Scheme. In its place, the...

Jeremy's Blog 28th May 2021: Tenancy Regulations and SFI

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 27th May 2021 With new tenancy regulations published on Tuesday, this part of the Agriculture Act is now complete for England. Welsh regulations are expected as the newly elected Senedd gets to work. These Regulations set out the Act’s tenancy changes that most directly bear on England’s Agricultural Transition Plan’s two goals: a competitive agriculture and environmental improvement. Three years notice is given for...

Government funding for Minimum Energy Efficiency Enforcement

The Government is inviting local authorities in England and Wales to bid for up to £100,000 of funding to help develop their capacity to enforce the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rental sector. A lack of resources has been cited as one reason for the lack of policing of compliance with the Regulations to date....

Jeremy's Blog 21st May 2021: Lump Sum and Advice

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 20th May 2021 Past the mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh, the purdah for devolved and local elections and Queen’s Speech, DEFRA policy statements are now coming thick and fast. The policies proposed in the 25 Year Environment Plan and the 2018 Health and Harmony paper are now becoming real, demonstrating the importance of advice to clients navigating the new world. Tuesday saw: the Tree Action Plan with plans for...

Jeremy's Blog 14th May 2021: The Queen's Speech

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 13th May 2021 The Queen’s Speech is both ritual and manifesto, bringing the Lord and Commons together for an outline of the Government’s intended legislation and policies for the coming year. Tuesday’s Speech can be seen as the real start of this Government’s busy domestic programme, eighteen months after its election, having been preoccupied with Brexit and the pandemic, albeit with the Agriculture Act done. Now...

Jeremy's Blog 7th May 2021: People

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 6th May 2021 The gathering momentum of our apparent recovery from the pandemic, led by rural areas, sees more return to offices and meeting clients on farm, contractors or other parties in negotiations. Face-to-face contact offers immediacy, directness and subtleties, not mediated by a glowing screen with slight delays and connection failures, and brings the opportunity for the informal side conversations that help build the...

Jeremy's Blog 30th April 2021: Housing

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th April 2021 This CAAV e-Briefing was first issued a year ago as we absorbed the possible length and scale of the pandemic’s challenge and looked for means to support and brief members. The kind comments we have had over the year suggest that it has helped, while the CAAV has both sustained its activity and been recognised again in statute. Among the year’s themes has been the acceleration of change anyway caused by...

Forestry England woodland creation scheme application closing 1st June

The application window for Forestry England’s new woodland creation scheme will close on 1 June and landowners are urged to apply in time. The Forestry England Woodland Partnership was launched in March, and is aimed at landowners including public bodies, environmental NGOs and farmers, offering an annual, guaranteed rent in return for a long-term lease on land of at least 50 hectares. The Forestry England Woodland Partnership is a chance to diversify landholding and farming businesses and...

Jeremy's Blog 23rd April 2021: Increased Climate Change Target

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd April 2021 While the long-awaited DEFRA consultation on the lump sum option and delinking for Basic Payment has been twice delayed by the “purdah” periods for mourning and the Scottish, Welsh and local elections, the Prime Minister has this week announced a significantly more demanding target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its potentially radical effects are described by the Financial Times as laying: “the...

Jeremy's Blog 16th April 2021: Future Land Use

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 15th April 2021 We pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, a firm advocate of the countryside, farming, the environment and rural communities, nationally and in the management of the Royal Farms, who died on 9th April. His life spanned a century of service, active until long into his 90s and characterised by determination, inquisitiveness and an interest in innovation, engineering and technology. The Duke of Edinburgh Award...