News, information and updates

It is tempting that once you have got a Contract Farming Agreement in place to forget about it especially if everyone seems happy. However with the volatility in commodity prices and the Greening requirements under the new Basic Payment Scheme now needing to be considered, what was considered suitable before may no longer be suitable […]

With the autumn drilling season over, many farmers will have already worked through the mind-boggling array of regulations regarding what, how much and when to drill, in order to comply with the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme Greening regulations. The Carver Knowles team has assisted a number of clients plan their cropping and EFA requirements this […]

The launch of the new permitted development rules in May 2014 appeared to pave the way for a wealth of conversions of agricultural buildings into dwellings. The scant details in the legislation and the seemingly open approach for new residential properties in the countryside appeared to be a huge positive for the rural landowner. However, […]

It’s the dream of many horse owners – to own their own paddock. But how many realise that planning permission may be needed. You purchase a paddock off a local farmer intending to keep your horse on it, but the field has previously been used for grazing cattle and sheep. If you use the field […]

Whilst definitely not being tax experts, we are frequently asked by farmers and landowners where to start with Capital Gain Tax when selling property. Capital gains tax (CGT) is paid on gains arising from the growth in value of property. Typically tax is paid on the difference between the base value (either when it was […]

Whilst there has been a great deal of information published about the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)and how it will work with Greening this autumn, until now we haven’t heard much about the changes to the other sources of funding that have previously been available through the Common Agricultural Policy. Essentially the Basic Payment Scheme funding […]

Tendering for a farm is something that you do very infrequently and maybe just once or twice in your farming career. At the same time letting agents tend to prefer it when the tender is the farmers work, not ours as land agents. They want to get to know you, establish if you balance the […]

Carver Knowles has recently removed an agricultural occupancy condition without the need for a marketing exercise. The planning application gave the planning officers the proof they needed to show without doubt that there was no longer a need for an agricultural dwelling on the holding or in the locality and therefore enabled them to remove […]

Below I have set out my top 10 tips for preparing a successful farm tender. They are simple but often forgotten. The whole exercise is about really getting into the proposal and making your application stick in the landlord’s mind as one that is strong and credible. Remember your audience. This could be the landlord, […]