Key players from the farming and landowning sectors share their views on life after Brexit

Although The Rural Report is an opportunity to share the insight and expertise of my colleagues in Knight Frank’s rural property teams, it is also a great opportunity to find out what other people think.

Each year we ask a selection of industry thought leaders to share their views on a specific topic. For the 2019 edition of the report [add link] we asked how they were preparing their own businesses for the future.

As you can read below, their thoughts are fascinating and diverse. It’s interesting that for a number, such as Sentry’s Paul Christian, Brexit isn’t considered the biggest challenge they face. Climate change and soil quality are more important.

Others, like Patrick Holden of the Sustainable Food Trust, point out that farming needs to better explain its positive contribution to the environment.

The arable farmer  - Tim Breitmeyer, CLA President 

With my weekend farming hat on, there is little doubt uncertainty hangs over us all like a darkening cloud, coupled with a yearning to know more detail so we can plan and invest for the future. But we should all recognise that whatever the outcome of the current grinding impasse, significant changes loom on the horizon, and the sooner we start engaging the better.

In response, the CLA has made pragmatic interventions – making the case that a no-deal Brexit will have negative consequences for the entire rural economy and that we should be working towards a free and frictionless trading relationship with the EU. We also urge government to recognise the scale of the likely upheaval, and the level of investment needed to achieve greater rural productivity and resilience.

We live in unprecedented political times, and we stand ready to redouble our efforts to ensure the rural voice continues to be heard clearly in the corridors of Westminster.

The farming company - Paul Christian, MD, Sentry 

Preparing for the unknown is not only difficult, but arguably foolhardy. However, we have been using the time to establish fit for purpose, healthy and adaptable businesses for ourselves and our clients in the post-Brexit world, including mitigating risk where we can on the back of risk sharing with our marketing partners. 

But while leaving the EU could have a dramatic effect in the short term, our view is that the real challenges – and they are happening at the same time – come from climate change and it is this that has been preoccupying our thoughts. 

Building soil resilience is, I believe, key to creating some degree of protection against climatic extremities. We applied over 100,000 tonnes of organics last year and this will increase if we can find enough. As a result, some of our farms recorded incredible performances. But not all fell into this category and we have further to go with this policy.

The livestock farmer - Minette Batters, President, NFU

For the livestock side of my business, particularly sheep, the future will be influenced more than anything else by what our final relationship with the EU looks like. With one in three lambs exported it’s unlikely we’ll see consumption increase in the UK, so exports will be a vital part of post-Brexit Britain.

At home we’ve focused on being as efficient and effective as we can and are constantly striving to improve. Animal health, genetics and soils are at the forefront of our livestock business. I’ve always believed that overall herd health is a hugely important defence to achieving and maintaining TB-free status. 

Our suckler herd is predominantly Simmental cross cows, selling strong stores through Salisbury Auction Market, but we also have a small herd of pedigree Herefords and are about to start a pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd. 

My advice would be to prepare for change and make sure your business is Brexit match fit.

The traditional estate - Charles Courtenay, Earl of Devon, The Powderham Estate

Several months since Theresa May’s original Brexit day, we find ourselves none the wiser as to the ultimate impact of our EU exit. 

Many great minds have considered the effects of various departure models on agriculture and rural businesses; all of them remain hypothetical and debatable. Even the Agriculture Bill, our first substantial agricultural legislation since the 1940s, has been marooned, and details of future government support for agriculture remain shrouded beneath the Delphic slogan of “public money for public good.” 

All we can sensibly do is remain light on our feet, and embrace two great strengths of rural business – long-term planning and diversification. At Powderham, we look towards a 100-year horizon in our land management strategies, and ensure a varied portfolio of farming and land management activities. This has allowed our business to endure over 700 years of European ambiguity; we hope it will get us through Brexit. 

The organic farmer - Patrick Holden, Chief Executive, Sustainable Food Trust 

We are told we only have ten years to avoid irreversible climate change. One of the best ways to rebuild the lost soil carbon that 50 years of continuous arable farming has removed is to switch to a mixed farming system. 

But how can such a switch be profitable, especially when the younger generation is reducing its intake of red meat, believing it is the right thing for their health and the health of the planet, and even in some cases going vegetarian and vegan?

We must all encourage Michael Gove (or his successor) to introduce incentive payments directly linked to increasing soil carbon, ideally taking most of the money that is presently given to us in the form of the Single Farm Payment.

Farming must also unite to explain that the methane emitted by grass-fed ruminants is offset by the resulting carbon sequestration in the soil and that, counter to the current orthodoxy, animal fats, especially from grass-fed animals, are actually healthier than palm oil, genetically modified soya, oil seed rape and other plant-based fats.

The politician  - Robert Goodwill MP, Minister of State, Defra 

One of the areas I was most looking forward to working on when I was appointed to Defra earlier this year was the planning for a future Environmental Land Management Scheme  (ELMS) to replace the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). 

My family has been farming in Yorkshire on the Castle Howard Estate for well over 150 years. Over time we have adapted to change, diversifying the business and learning to farm in more sustainable ways. However, we have also had to contend with the CAP, which has become increasingly dated, holding back innovation with its “one size fits all” policy for 28 member states. 

The Agriculture Bill sets out ambitious plans for a future in which we plan our own policy, with ELMS at the heart of that. ELMS is still in the very early stages, but over the coming months and years we will carry out pilot schemes and trials with farmers, land managers, advisors and other local experts, using their expertise and knowledge to design a new system. 

I am looking forward to progressing with the development of ELMS in my role at Defra.

The institution  - Christopher Sparrow, Head of Rural,  The Duchy of Lancaster

The whole Brexit process has encouraged us to look closely at our farming assets and how we manage them. In order to gauge the impact of a more environmentally weighted support regime in the future we really need to understand the operational capabilities of our farms as they exist today. 

A move to an in-house estate management team has brought us closer to our tenants. Work is ongoing to review tenants’ business models, clarify our obligations and identify the right capital projects into which we should invest to improve efficiency and longevity. 

We will be looking to build on a recently completed field-by-field biodiversity audit part-funded by Natural England and facilitated by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. This two-year project has identified where there is scope for improvement and areas where we can beat regional benchmarks without taking any land out of production. Hopefully a useful segue toward ELMS and Natural Capital calculations as and when they go live!

Whatever the future holds in terms of policy and legislative changes, confidence in our starting point will be vital and working in partnership with our tenants to give them a head start in this “all new” regime will be key. 

Download the full edition of The Rural Report 2019 

If you'd like advice on any of the issues covered by our contributors please get in touch with our head of agri-consulting Tom Heathcote