The Knight Frank Rural Property and Business Update – 15 March
Our weekly dose of news, views and insight from the world of farming, food and landownership
5 minutes to read
We’ve got a bit of an environmental theme going on this week, including some details of how farms and estates will be paid post-Brexit for going green. But perhaps of longer term significance for rural land stewards is the consultation into the five principles that will drive the new Environment Bill. The focus on tackling environmental problems at their source and the “polluter pays” principle will undoubtedly have implications for farms and estates, the trick will be to turn them into opportunities – rewilding perhaps? - not threats. With supermarket Morrisons pledging that its network of 3,000 farm suppliers will be carbon neutral by just 2030, the wind is only blowing in one direction.
Please do get in touch with me or my colleagues mentioned below if you’d like to discuss any of the issues covered. We’d love to hear from you
Andrew Shirley, Head of Rural Research
In this week’s update:
• Commodity markets – Prices remain firm
• Environmental support – Sustainable Farming Incentive details revealed
• The Environment Bill - Five principles consultation opens
• Rewilding – Schemes create rural jobs
• Patient capital – Stewardship and residential development
• Trespass – Government creates new powers
• Overseas news – UK scores highly on global food security index
Commodity markets – Prices remain firm
Commodity values remain strong as we move through the first quarter of 2021. Limited UK supply is helping to support beef and lamb markets, while weather issues in Latin America are pushing up oil crop prices. It’s not just old crop prices that are benefiting. With November London wheat futures sitting at over £170/t there are already opportunities to lock into for this year’s harvest.
Environmental support – Sustainable Farming Incentive details revealed
As of today (15 March), farmers in England can sign up to take part in a Defra pilot scheme for the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).
The SFI is the most basic level of the three-tier Environmental Land Management scheme (Elms) that will eventually become the main source of government support for farmers.
Those in the pilot scheme, which kicks of this October, will be able to choose from eight “standards” that will deliver public and environmental benefits like increasing biodiversity and mitigating climate change.
Each standard will be split into three progressively demanding categories with payments varying accordingly, roughly along the lines of current Countryside Stewardship rates.
Tom Heathcote, Head of our Agri-Consultancy team, says he will be encouraging his clients to take part in the pilot. “This has been billed as farmer-friendly, rewarding them for a husbandry/systems-based approach, including on assets that are currently deemed ineligible.
“The standards look relatively simple and in line with many of the current best farming practices so entry for eligible applicants should be quite straightforward.”
Find out more and register
The Environment Bill - Five principles consultation opens
Defra has just opened a consultation on the five legally binding environmental principles, including “the polluter pays” that will drive its long awaited Environment Bill.
The bill will create a duty on government ministers to be guided by the five internationally recognised principles when making policy – protecting the environment for the next generation and “demonstrating to the world that the environment is at the front and centre of the government’s work, ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference”.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “We want to embed the environment in the design, development and delivery of the Government’s work.
Our environmental principles are essential, and will ensure that ministers across Whitehall are guided to not just protect the environment, but tackle problems at their origin.”
Discover the five principles and take part in the consultation
Rewilding – Schemes create rural jobs
One criticism of rewilding is that it puts nature before people. However, lobby group Rewilding Britain claims that new research scotches that notion.
A study of 23 rewilding sites totalling 122,547 acres, of which 75,261 acres were rewilded, showed a 47% increase in total employment and a nine-fold increase in volunteering opportunities. In addition, all of the sites still maintained some kind of livestock production.
Patient capital – Stewardship and residential development
If you own land that has development potential, but don’t want to see it covered in bland boxes, Charlie Dugdale, one of Knight Frank’s residential development experts, has pioneered a new stewardship model that offers long-term benefits and control to landowners, as well as creating real communities.
To watch Charlie share his vision you can now view on demand his contribution the Mills & Reeve “On the sofa” Patient Capital series. It’s well worth a look.
Trespass – Government creates new powers
The government has announced a new offence that will target trespassers who intend to reside on any private or public land in vehicles without permission, and where they are causing significant disruption, distress or harm to local communities.
A statement said: “Police will be given powers to seize vehicles and arrest offenders. The measures will target harmful encampments which reflect badly on the wider nomadic community as a whole, the majority of whom are law-abiding.”
The new offence will be punishable by a prison sentence of up to 3 months, or a fine of up to £2,500, or both.
Read full details of the police’s new powers
Overseas news – UK scores highly on global food security index
Post-Brexit there has been a lot of chat that the UK should produce more of the food we all consume to make us more self-sufficient and less vulnerable to global trade issues.
However, the latest instalment of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Food Security Index places the UK in sixth position out of the 113 countries analysed. Out of a possible score of 100, the UK’s 78.5 in 2020 was just 0.1 lower than 12 months earlier.
Top place goes to Finland with a score of 85.2. Ireland comes in second (83.8), while trade sparring partners the US and China ranked 11th and 39th, respectively.
Read the full Food Security Index
Photo by Jenna Lee on Unsplash