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31.01.2023
Future farms technology is virtually here. But is the fourth agricultural revolution just the territory of scientists and tech buffs, or will it bring immediate opportunities to land managers and help solve the huge challenges society faces? Agriculture has never stood still. The period after the Second World War, for example, saw huge changes as […]
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27.01.2023
Defra is trying to turbocharge its Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme. Janet Hughes, who is the director at Defra responsible for the Food, Farming and Countryside Programme, provided an update on the ‘prospectus’ for ELM before it was formally released in detail by ministers. She said that she hopes it gives the sector the information […]
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24.01.2023
The Scottish Government has announced that the 2023 Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) application round will open for applications on 30 January 2023. The scheme, which was first introduced in 2015, offers annual payments for a wide range of environmental management options. For example, arable farmers can apply for payments for establishing grass strips and beetle banks, […]
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18.01.2023
Strutt & Parker’s recent Future of Farming survey, carried out jointly with the Country Land & Business Association, showed that less than a quarter of respondents had carried out a carbon audit of their farming business during the past three years. The numbers are relatively low given a carbon audit is an important first step […]
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12.01.2023
Defra has announced an increase in the payments on offer under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) and Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), to encourage more farmers to sign up to an agreement. The increases were announced by farming minister Mark Spencer at the Oxford Farming Conference. The revenue payments under CSS – which cover a list […]
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10.01.2023
Climate predictions indicate extreme weather such as this year’s drought is now the norm. So how can farmers adapt, and how might the climate of the future shape our industry and landscapes? This year, Yorkshire farmer Richard Bramley did something he’d never done in thirty years of farming: he went on holiday in August. The […]
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05.01.2023
Finding new ways to maximise the value of assets has allowed one farming family to future-proof their business It was his sister’s wedding in 2008 that gave Guy Taylor the idea which was to change his life and help secure the future of the family farm. Guests were so complimentary about the 18th Century granary barn […]
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16.12.2022
The economic downturn, the shifting sands of agricultural policy, climate change, the biodiversity crisis and soaring input prices are likely to be critical influences within the rural sector in 2023, according to land and property specialists Strutt & Parker. Rhodri Thomas, Head of Rural at Strutt & Parker, says: “It is clear we are facing […]
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05.12.2022
Defra has confirmed that an enhanced version of Countryside Stewardship will form the second tier of its Environment Land Management (ELM) scheme, replacing plans for a Local Nature Recovery scheme. The announcement was made by Defra Secretary Therese Coffey who said it was ‘the smart thing to do with public money’, given the Countryside Stewardship […]
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05.12.2022
Natural capital has been a hot topic in the rural sector for more than a decade, but there is still confusion about what it is, what it involves and what it can deliver for farmers and landowners. We talk to three natural capital pioneers about how they are approaching it and why Managing land with […]
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30.11.2022
Strutt & Parker’s Autumn 2022 Scottish Farming Update is produced by our Farming Research Group and offers an overview of the latest issues affecting farmers’ business decisions. It is an extremely interesting time for farming businesses, given the huge movement we have seen in both output and input prices with varying impacts across all sectors […]
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28.11.2022
The conversation around land use has become highly polarised, so all eyes will be on the government’s Land Use Framework for England when it is published next year. We asked a selection of different rural stakeholders about their hopes and fears for the proposed strategy Creating a land use framework – ‘put national interest before […]
