Farming Articles
5th April 2022
An interview with Richard Greasby - What brought you initially to the Cotswolds?
I was born into a farming family in Oxfordshire, and came to the Cotswolds to study for my degree in Rural Land Management at the RAU about 30 years ago! I took my first job with Strutt & Parker in Moreton in Marsh.....................and haven't left the area since, with the Cotswolds becoming my home. I now live with my wife and three children near Winchcombe, where we are all fully embedded in many aspects of the local community.
How did you become involved in rural property... more
12th March 2021
With a milling legacy spanning eight generations, Matthews Cotswold Flour is one of the UK’s oldest family-run flour mills.
Trading grain and milling flour in the heart of the Cotswolds since the1800s, they believe passionately that local partnerships, traditional methods and premium grains make for better baking. Matthews offers premium quality Organic and Stoneground Wholemeal flour, using grain from local farmers and time-honoured milling techniques. They still use the original building that was completed in 1912, and set beside the railway, which in former times was used to distribute the flour across the... more16th December 2020
Like all areas of business and commerce farming has had a difficult year and will not escape 2020 unharmed. The key messages in DEFRA’s recent total income from farming forecast are: (when compared to 2019)
Total Income from Farming is expected to be £4,151 million, a decrease of £1,127 million(-21%) Agriculture is expected to contribute £9,360 million to the national economy (Gross Value Added), a decrease of £1,048 million (-10%) Weather conditions coupled with the Covid-19... more10th December 2020
Basic Payment Scheme - Payment reductions confirmed for 2021 to 2027
It has now been confirmed how Direct Payments are to be phased out in England from 2021 to 2027. Reductions to BPS payments will start from 2021 and are to be reduced progressively until 2027. The reductions are to apply to the total payment the farmer would have received each year and are to work in a similar way to income tax bands, with bigger reductions for the higher payment bands.
The reduction... more
6th May 2020
“Pick For Britain”
Only a third of the seasonal pickers from oversees have arrived in the UK. To help ensure the UK fruit and vegetable harvest goes ahead, the government has launched their new website pickforbritain.org.uk. Farm businesses are being encouraged to post their job vacancies to help recruit the 80,000 seasonal agricultural workers needed. The government hopes that this could create an opportunity for... more
21st April 2020
Rights of Way and Covid 19
Farmers and Landowners have, not surprisingly, seen an increase in the use of footpaths and bridleways as part of the publics permitted daily exercise during the Covid-19 lock down. Although a great resource for the public to be able to exercise in the countryside, it comes with additional risks to those who work in it, live in it and also those now exploring it.
Despite the temptation for farmers and landowners to block or obstruct a right of way... more
27th January 2020
How will it impact farmers?
The government published a new version of The Agricultural Bill last week which is expected to go through without amendment and become an act of parliament. The original bill fell by the wayside last autumn amidst the Brexit and political chaos at the time.
The key points of the bill are:
The 2020 BPS payments will remain unchanged. The phasing out of direct payments (BPS) from 2021 to 2027. The % deductions for 2021 have been set at 5% for... more