The Rural Update: Boost confidence at home
Your weekly dose of news, views and insight from Knight Frank on the world of farming, food and landownership
8 minutes to read
Viewpoint
It is good news that ministers from the new government are taking the opportunity to champion the UK’s global role in solving some of the world’s biggest problems such as the loss of biodiversity and climate change.
But when they are making their big pledges they should also remember that the UK’s own land-based industries need help, too. This weekend’s heavy rain will worry farmers who experienced their worst harvest in decades due to wet weather earlier in the year.
When it comes to next month’s budget any measures that could further hamper the ability of farmers to pass on sustainable businesses to the next generation should be carefully considered.
There are lots of opportunities on the horizon for farms and estates, but confidence among many is fragile.
Commodity markets
Wheat becalmed
Feed wheat remains in the doldrums with virtually no movement on week-ago values and prices the same as this time last year. The USDA’s latest world supply and demand report did peg total global output down by 1.5 million tonnes, but this wasn’t enough to encourage markets to step up a gear. Exports continue to flow from the Black Sea and year-end grain stocks remain healthy.
Deforestation law delay?
Meanwhile, the full implementation of a new EU law that could have helped support oilseed rape prices may be delayed. The anti-deforestation rules aim to ensure that products imported into the EU – such as cocoa, livestock, coffee, and soy – are not sourced from deforested land. Companies must provide geolocation data for farms as proof of compliance. However, countries like Brazil are pushing back strongly and it is rumoured European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may push back the compliance deadline, which is currently the end of December 2024.
Labour doubles down on renewables
The government has been emphasising its commitment to renewable energy. Last week Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the launch of a new Global Clean Power Alliance, aimed at speeding up the global shift to renewable energy and helping countries move away from fossil fuels. “This government has set a landmark goal – to be the first major economy to deliver clean power by 2030.”
On the same day, Energy Minister Ed Miliband, speaking at the Energy UK Annual Conference 2024 in Westminster, was also in a bullish mood: “Every wind turbine we block, every solar farm we reject, every piece of grid we fail to build makes us less secure and more exposed. We will take on the blockers, the delayers, the obstructionists, because the clean energy sprint is the economic justice, energy security and national security fight of our time.”
And rental reform
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said no-fault evictions would be gone for good as part of the Renters’ Reform Bill, which was published last week. She also said she would be extending “Awaab’s Law”,which will force landlords to fix substandard living accommodation, to the private rented sector.
Energy and Net Zero Minister Ed Miliband also told delegates that every rented home will need to achieve an energy performance certificate rating of C or above by 2030. The Conservatives had promised something similar, but it was one of the environmental measures dropped by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he infamously relaxed his government’s net-zero goals.
News in brief
Rural Report out soon
The Rural Report, which provides a more detailed view of many of the topics covered in the Rural Update, is due to be published soon. Please sign up here to receive your copy.
Nature crisis needs billions more
The OECD’s annual report tracking progress in international biodiversity finance says wealthy countries need to stump up another US$5 billion over the next 15 months. It says the money is needed to help less well-off nations stick to the 2022 Kunming-Montreal declaration on biodiversity and its accompanying Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) commitment to halt the destruction of nature this decade and to accelerate regeneration at an unprecedented scale and pace.
UK signs sustainable ag pledge
Meanwhile, Food Security minister Daniel Zeichner was in Brazil last week to sign the G20 Agricultural Declaration. The declaration positions agriculture at the forefront of addressing key challenges of fighting poverty, ending hunger, and improving nutrition, while confronting the triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Defra said the efforts of the UK ensured that the Declaration encourages more sustainable agricultural practices across the planet, including halting and reversing deforestation.
Scottish peat project
St Andrews University has teamed up with the Corrour estate, which was bought in 1995 by the Swedish ecologist Lisbet Rausing, to sequester 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the next 100 years via peatland restoration and the creation of naturally regenerated woodland. The university will establish a research facility for students at Corrour to help “educate the climate leaders of the future”.
Biodiversity baselining
Lloyds Banking Group has entered the biodiversity baselining space. In a statement, it said: “We’ve teamed up with Soil Association Exchange to create the largest, most comprehensive review of farm environmental performance ever carried out in the UK.” The bank is also calling for the government to back its definitive, “first of its kind” environmental baselining assessment to create a unified methodology for the entire food sector. It will be interesting to see the response from established biodiversity metrics providers.
Poultry deadline approaches
Anybody keeping poultry in England and Wales, even if they have only one chicken, goose or duck, needs to register their flock by the end of the month as part of measures to restrict the spread of avian flu. Previously only flocks of 50 birds or more needed to be registered. Register your flock here.
Rebanks says no to Defra
Last week we reported that the short-lived tenure of tenancy reform advocate Baroness Kate Rock on Defra’s non-executive board was being curtailed. It now transpires that Lake District farmer James Rebanks has turned down an offer to join the board. Writing on X the best-selling author said he didn’t want to be complicit in the breaking of promises he thought ought to be kept. Applications to join the board close on 7th October.
Onshore salmon farm sunk?
Salmon farming in sea cages is often accused of polluting the environment and affecting wild fish with diseases. However, the future of a new £120 million on-shore farm at Grimsby docks that could have lessened the UK’s reliance on fish farmed at sea is now in doubt. Animal Equality UK has won a judicial review of North East Lincolnshire Council’s decision to approve the scheme. The campaign group argued that projects stocking densities represented an animal welfare issue.
Bluetongue update
As of Sunday, the number of farms affected by the latest outbreak of bluetongue virus had risen to 97 cases. The new restricted zone now covers all of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Greater London, Surrey and West Sussex. A case has also been reported in northern Somerset. You can find the latest updates on the spread of the disease and what measures stock farmers are being advised to take here.
Research
Country houses - Dipping but outlook brighter
The average value of country houses nudged down by a further 0.6% in the second quarter of the year taking the 12-month fall to 3%, according to the latest results from the Knight Frank Prime Country House Index. Homes priced between £1 million and £2 million recorded the biggest annual fall of almost 4%, while those worth between £4 million and £5 million dipped by just 0.4% - potential buyers at this level are less dependent on mortgage funding, points out Head of UK Residential Research Tom Bill. He predicts a total average price slide of 2% this year, with values bouncing back by 3% in 2025 as interest rate cuts boost market confidence.
Farmland - Values hold firm
The farmland market in England and Wales shrugged off the potential impact of the recent general election to register another quarterly price increase, according to the latest results from the Knight Frank Farmland Index. Average values nudged up by almost 1% in the second quarter of the year to hit £9,335/acre. For more insight and data please download the full report.
Development land - Market stays flat
The value of greenfield development sites remained static in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest results of the Knight Frank Residential Development Land Index. Over the past 12 months the index is down 2%. According to Anna Ward, who compiles the index, developers have welcomed Labour’s commitment to reinstate local housing targets and recruit more planning officers. But with interest rates failing to shift and build costs increasing, homebuilders still face significant headwinds, she adds. Download the full report for more insight and data.
Property of the week
Cotswolds calling
This week’s property of the week is a lovely farming and equestrian estate at Leighterton, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. A 17th Century Grade II listed manor house sits at the centre of 172-acre Saddlewood Manor. The ring-fences estate includes 160 acres of arable land currently sown to grass and a range of equestrian facilities including traditional stables and an all-weather school. There are also two cottages. The guide price is £7.95 million. Please contact Georgie Veale for more information.