Our market leading research and articles deliver actionable insights to help our clients make informed business decisions.

Welcome to this quarter’s Farming Update, which is produced by our Farming Research Group and reports on market and administrative issues that affect farmers’ business decisions and on which they may need to act. It has been a slow and prolonged harvest but fortunately weather conditions have improved towards the end. Yields are generally good. […]

Social value is a concept used to measure the impact that property and places can have on communities and the wellbeing of people who live, work and visit them. It is one of the three main pillars of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards used by companies and organisations as a framework to ensure […]

Farming SFI accelerated payments in 2023 With the SFI 2023 now open for applications, Defra has announced that farmers with an agreement that starts in 2023 will receive an ‘accelerated payment’ of 25% of the value of their agreement within the first month.  If you are thinking about entering into a SFI agreement and would […]

The government has formally opened the full version of the 2023 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for England. The headlines are that SFI 2023 is bigger, more flexible and should be easier to apply for. With 23 actions available, it covers existing themes like soil health and moorland, and introduces new actions on hedgerows, integrated pest […]

Farming Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme (SFI 2023) open for applications from 18th September (England) The scheme includes 23 sets of actions that land managers can take, including on soil health, moorlands, hedgerows, integrated pest management, farmland wildlife, buffer strips and low input grassland.  Please contact our farming team if you would like to discuss what […]

Welcome to this quarter’s English Farming Update, which is produced by our Farming Research Group and reports on market and administrative issues that affect farmers’ business decisions and on which they may need to act. It has been a varied, mild, wet and windy harvest. There has been significant variation in reports in relation to […]

Landlords may be able to benefit from a new government scheme designed to support people to add loft or cavity wall insulation to their homes. The Great British Insulation Scheme, which will run from summer 2023 to March 2026, will provide a 90%-funded insulation upgrade for residential properties in council tax bands A-D in England, […]

Farming Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) application deadline extended to 15th September 2023 Following recurrent technical issues with the Rural Payments online service, the deadline for submission was extended. The extension will be an opportunity for late applicants and may also allow for the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2023 scheme to be open at the […]

New guidance has been published which could prove helpful for landowners and farmers hoping to divert or extinguish a footpath because of privacy, safety and security concerns. Defra has issued new guidance, effective from 1 August 2023, which sets out how local authorities should give weight to the adverse impact of a public right of […]

There is a complex web of grants and other incentives on offer for woodland design, creation and management in England. To make it easier for farmers and landowners to identify what funds are available and for what sort of project, we have produced a poster with the key details of the main schemes. For example, […]

Grant funding for farmers and landowners in England who are looking to diversify is now available through the Rural England Prosperity Fund. The £110m fund was unveiled last year as a top up to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Previously, schemes like the European-funded LEADER and Growth Programme provided support to many farms and […]

Farming and food Calf Housing for Health and Welfare grant to open shortly  (England) This new funding, part of the Animal Health and Welfare Infrastructure Grant, covers up to 40% of the eligible costs of a project, with a minimum grant of £15,000 and the maximum £500,000. It will pay for capital costs to build […]