Many farm owners are self-employed and do not need to employ any staff. However, in some cases many farmers come to a point where they need to employ staff to cope with the high volume of work. Therefore, if you are employing staff for the first time you will need to...
Farmers are increasingly seeking ways to stabilise their farm income and ensure the sustainability of their agricultural businesses. Farm diverification is one strategy farmers are using to achieve this. Diversifying a farming business involves branching out into new...
Have you thought about succession and the long-term plans for your family farm? As agriculture makes up the highest concentration of family businesses passed through the generations, it is no surprise that succession is a key issue and is something farmers need to...
The government has launched an infrastructure grant scheme worth £10 million to fund cattle housing for farmers. This fund aims to improve calf health and welfare as well as enhancing environmental sustainability and innovation. The funding will be granted to farmers...
Defra has published updated guidance regarding farms that have recently been sold. New Defra guidance From 2024 Basic Payment Scheme payments will be delinked which means that new farm owners will not need to apply for BPS, instead this will be calculated based...
Second round of the Landscape Recovery Scheme The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced a second round of the Landscape Recovery Scheme which was initially launched in 2022. Farmers and land managers can apply for a share of the £15m...
New rules regarding biodiversity net gains have been announced by the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra). The main announcement is regarding a mandatory uplift of a 10% minimum biodiversity net gain (BNG). It is believed that this will be...
Introduction Going into 2023, the outlook is much less optimistic for farmers. However, the annual Sentiment Survey, conducted in October/November demonstrated that most farmers were in reasonable financial shape. Arable farmers Arable farmers were in...
The department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has recently announced £12.5 million in grant funding to businesses in the agriculture and horticulture sectors to help improve automation and robotics to boost productivity. Defra, in partnership with UK...
Livery businesses are particularly difficult to structure from a tax perspective and it is advised that owners should spend time reviewing agreements with their clients on a regular basis to ensure that they are being as tax efficient as possible. This is in order to...
Introduction Research has found that implementing new farming technology will help reduce the productivity gap between the UK and countries with much higher productivity in agriculture such as Australia and the USA. Future funding is critical if UK livestock farmers...
Are there tax opportunities for UK farmers available in 2022? Annual Investment Allowance, Agricultural Property Relief, and farmers’ averaging are generous tax reliefs for UK farmers and owners of agricultural businesses. However, each has some detailed rules that...