The Rural Bulletin: 20th April 2018

Take care over farm contracting agreements, warns CAAV

Farmers setting up contracting agreements should take care to show that they are still farming as part of a trade or business, following a recent court case in Scotland.

The case – Fyffe v Esslemont – concerned a tenant who had contracted out his farming activities and has implications for similar situations in England and Wales, according to the Central Association of Agricultural Advisers.

“The courts found that a secure Scottish agricultural tenancy lost its statutory protection because the tenant had substantially abandoned use of the farm for agriculture for the purposes of a trade or business,” explains Jeremy Moody, secretary and adviser to the CAAV.

While this case revolved around the protection of an agricultural tenancy, other cases have shown that farmers can lose valuable agricultural tax reliefs by not actively farming. “To benefit from the status of being a farmer the farmer must take responsibility for positive husbandry of the land,” he adds. “That can be delivered through properly managed, genuine contracting and grazing arrangements.”

Such agreements should constitute a formal contract, regulating the rights and responsibilities of the parties. “This means getting the business deal right, recording it in the agreement and then following it in practice. This is not about labels, but realities.

Agriculture Bill expected in the second half of 2018

An agriculture Bill outlining the Government’s plans for farming post-Brexit is likely to be published in the last six months of 2018, announced Defra secretary, Michael Gove, this week. 

Speaking at a hearing of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, Mr Gove said the Bill would be released after the Government had considered all the responses to Defra’s Health and Harmony consultation on the future of farming. 

The consultation includes plans to abolish direct payments, replacing them with a new system of support which will incentivise farmers for undertaking environmental measures.

Countryside must not become a ‘soft target’, NFU tells police chiefs

A consistent and coordinated approach to rural crime is needed to ensure farms and rural communities do not become a ‘soft target’ for criminals, said NFU President Minette Batters in an address to the National Police Chiefs Council this week.

Laid out initially in its Combatting Rural Crime report published last year, the NFU continues to urge all police forces to have a dedicated rural police team in order to ensure the countryside is properly policed. 

Mrs Batters said: “All manner of rural crimes, whether it is hare-coursing, fly-tipping or theft, severely impact farm businesses and rural communities. Not only does it have economic consequences, but these criminals also bring threats, violence and intimidation to the countryside.

“It is crucial that there is a joined-up approach to tackle this issue and that is why the NFU is the leading farming organisation representing its members in the fight against rural crime.”

Scottish government launch bad weather fund

The Scottish government has made a £250,000 fund available for farmers who have lost livestock as a result of the recent bad weather, as announced by rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing, this week. 

Mr Ewing said the funding would help farmers offset the cost of sheep and cattle deaths which had also increased deadstock disposal costs. “I’ve seen first-hand the massive impact that the prolonged wet and severe weather has been having on farmers, resulting in higher numbers of dead animals and acute shortages in fodder across the country.”