How to Be a Farmer (UK Only) E-Book

John Terry

• Herausgeber: Old Pond Books
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 613

Beschreibung

The ultimate beginner's guide, How to Be a Farmer is perfect for anyone interested in learning more before they commit to a farming lifestyle. Whether you're interested in farming as a hobby or as a full-time business, this complete resource outlines everything you need to know – from obtaining land and insurance to farming regulations, keeping livestock, arable farming, haymaking, and so much more. Offering friendly and practical advice, How to Be a Farmer is the perfect starting point for anyone looking for information on this rewarding lifestyle!

Leseprobe

HOW TO BE AFARMER

A GUIDE TO STARTING OUT ON YOUR OWN

John Terry

Hon. B.A., Cert.Ed., C.Biol., M.R.S.B., M.C.I.Hort., F.R.Ag.S., F.R.S.A.

By the same author:

Pigs in the Playground

Calves in the Classroom

Ducks in Detention

Rabbits on Report

How To Become a First-Generation Farmer

The Farming Joke Book

How to Be a Farmer

This book was previously published in hardback with the title How to Become a First-Generation Farmer

Old Pond Publishing is an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

Copyright © 2015, 2021 by John Terry and Fox Chapel International Ltd.

All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Fox Chapel Publishers, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

ISBN 978-1-912158-5-22

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Fox Chapel Publishing

903 Square Street

Mount Joy, PA 17552

Fox Chapel Publishers International Ltd.

3 The Bridle Way, Selsey, Chichester PO20 0RS.

www.oldpond.com

Printed and bound in the UK

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover photo: Pedigree sheep at Oak Tree Farm John Terry

For my lovely wife, Sarah, and our two wonderful children, Jonathan and Roseanna – not forgetting my dear mother and father, and also my Uncle Ben and Aunty Doll.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank all the farmers for allowing me on to their farms and thus helping me to compile this book. I would like to thank them for giving me their permission to take and include photographs.

I would also like to thank our veterinary surgeons: Steve and Thaddeus at Midshire Farm & Equine, and arable specialist John at Frontier Agriculture.

My wife, Sarah, has been wonderful reading through the manuscript and taking on the enormous task of typing it up on to the computer.

DISCLAIMER

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book is correct at the time of going to press, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Whilst knowledgeable about agriculture, the author is not a practicing veterinarian so if you notice an error or inaccuracy please contact the publisher so this can be amended in the next edition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Terry was brought up by his parents on a private housing estate in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. At weekends and during school holidays he stayed with his uncle and aunt on a 500-acre farm in Leicestershire. His uncle was a farm manager and John, from a very early age, enjoyed all aspects of farm and country life. John left school at 18 and went to work on another farm before attending a 3-year college course at Worcester to become a Rural Studies teacher. He went back to the school he attended as a pupil to teach Rural Studies and remained there for the whole of his teaching career, which was 25 years. He was head of department and taught agriculture, horticulture and environmental studies, setting up a thriving school farm. At the same time, he wrote four hilarious books about life on the school farm. In 1989 he purchased a field that had not been farmed for a number of years, with no electricity, no farm buildings and a very poor water supply. The field was soon cultivated, grassed and a poultry unit installed for free-range laying hens. Over the years, the poultry enterprise increased. In addition, both pedigree Kerry Hill and Derbyshire Gritstone sheep have been bred and shown, winning numerous championships.

John’s enthusiasm, determination, intelligence, humour and excellent communication skills have been apparent in all his endeavours, as he has proven himself to be a good farmer, establishing a farm of which he can be proud. John is good at getting what he wants – he gained planning permission for a mobile home on his site, which he lived in before he got planning permission for a permanent bungalow. Over the years, his farm land has increased to 13.92 ha (34.5 acres), and now includes a field to grow arable crops. He has always had an integrated life, formerly close to his parents and now close to his wife, Sarah, and his children, Jonathan and Roseanna. His family are involved in everything he does.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 How to Obtain Land

2 Changes in Agriculture since Leaving the EU

3 Buying Your First Field

4 Services: Electricity and Water

5 Hedging and Fencing

6 Getting the Land into Shape

7 Farm Buildings

8 Developing the Business at Oak Tree Farm and Constructing Farm Buildings

9 Insurance

10 Rules and Regulations for Keeping Livestock

11 Making a Start with Cattle

12 Cattle Diseases and Ailments

13 Making a Start with Sheep

14 Sheep Diseases and Ailments

15 Making a Start with Pigs

16 Pig Diseases and Ailments

17 Other Livestock: Heavy Horses, Goats, Alpacas, Deer and Water Buffalo

18 Making a Start with Laying Hens, Pullet Rearing and Broiler Production

19 Chicken Diseases and Ailments

20 Making a Start with Ducks, Geese and Turkeys

21 Duck, Goose and Turkey Diseases and Ailments

22 Arable Farming

23 Diseases and Pests of Arable Crops

24 Haymaking and Silage Making

25 Caring for the Environment

26 Progressing to a Mobile Home and Bungalow or House

27 Diary of Events and Achievements

28 Conclusions

INTRODUCTION

A 3.164 hectare field on the Leicestershire– Warwickshire border, up for auction on 26 June 1989.

This is the story of how I developed a farm from a 3.164 hectare (7.82 acre) field that had not been farmed for a number of years, turning it into a thriving business and lovely home for myself and then my family over 32 years. Whilst telling the story, I have also explained how to set up and look after other agricultural enterprises. This is a modern agricultural textbook that is intended to be informative but at the same time highly amusing – which is what you would expect from me – especially if you have read my other books. Hopefully it will set you on the road to becoming a successful first-generation farmer like me.

I was lucky enough to purchase the field for £21,000 which was originally part of Vale Farm. It had not been farmed for a number of years and was covered in weeds. There were no buildings on the land and no electricity supply. A water supply was connected to a neighbouring farm. It reached the field in old lead pipes with very little pressure and was really unfit for human consumption.

Looking through the gate to the first field.

The land is fertile in nature. It is a good, level field, regular in shape with well-defined boundaries and benefits from two road frontages. I bought the field with savings and therefore didn’t need a bank loan or mortgage.

Neither my parents nor my grandparents were farmers, so I was not born into a farming family. My uncle, Ben, was a farm manager on a country estate, so I spent many happy holidays and weekends helping him on the farm. The lady who owned the estate, Mrs Mary Caroline Inge, lived in a large mansion house. My uncle not only looked after the farm but also tended the gardens, grew orchids for her and chauffeured her Rolls Royce and Lanchester. Later, Mrs Inge died, and my uncle managed for Lord and Lady de Clifford, who inherited the farm and bought three neighbouring farms.

I was born in April 1952 and spent my childhood with my parents, growing up on a private housing estate in Nuneaton. By the time I was 15, I had kept rabbits, guinea pigs, bantams, tortoises, mice, hamsters, newts, frogs and, best of all, my dog Lassie. I showed my rabbits and guinea pigs, which I enjoyed doing. Next came cage birds, which I exhibited at shows throughout the Midlands and with which I achieved two first prizes at the National Exhibition of Cage Birds held at Alexandra Palace in London. But I was not a farmer – I kept these animals as substitutes for farm animals – there was no room for cattle, sheep or pigs on a suburban housing estate.

Me aged seven, sitting between my parents with Uncle Ben and Aunty Doll. Even at this early age, I wanted to be a farmer.

After leaving school, I worked on a farm full time for a year. I then attended Worcester College of Education (now Worcester University) and became a Rural Studies teacher, teaching agriculture, horticulture and environmental studies. I developed and was head of the Rural Studies department and a thriving school farm, but I still had this burning ambition to be a farmer. I wanted to own my farm and not rent it. I couldn’t afford to go out and buy a complete working farm, so I started off with the one field.

Chapter 1

HOW TO OBTAIN LAND

In reality, farming is sometimes not what it seems: for example, if you read children’s farmyard books where Farmer Brown’s wife merrily collects the eggs from her five hens, placing the eggs carefully in a lovely wicker basket. In fact, it is much harder work than this, often involving long hours and hard physical labour. When you start, you may be in full-time employment and have to work on your land before and after work, at weekends and during holidays. If you breed livestock, you will experience sleepless nights calving cows or lambing ewes, often on some of the coldest nights in winter when most townies will be asleep in their beds.

If it is your dream to own or rent a farm or a field, you must work hard and be totally committed. The farm may even make you a profit. However, there is the story of the farmer who won the lottery and, when asked what he was going to do with the money, replied that he was ‘to keep farming until it has all gone.’ On the other hand, you never see a farmer on a bicycle!

If you want to farm successfully, you certainly have to be a very determined person. Before you start, you should have some idea of what you are going to do with your land. Is it a full-time agricultural business or a hobby farm? You may be married, or you may have a partner, and you have got to respect their feelings about your ambition and dreams. They could love this rural lifestyle, or they could hate it. You will certainly be working long hours, and if your partner is not interested, they will see less of you than if you worked normal office hours.

Keeping sheep – I have two purebreeds here, Kerry Hill and Derbyshire Gritstone, plus some Texel crosses.

The main agricultural options or enterprises are as follows:

1. Livestock – the main enterprises are dairy, beef, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry, plus a few more unusual animals such as alpacas. A variety of these enterprises can be kept, or you can become a specialist in one or two areas such as poultry and sheep. You can also choose between keeping pedigree livestock and selling most as breeding stock or commercial livestock, which sell for meat production.

2. Arable farming – you need a large acreage for this if it is your only enterprise. You will obviously not make a living growing wheat, barley or potatoes on a small field, but hopefully you will make some money.

3. Mixed farming – this is a combination of livestock and arable.

4. A farm shop – selling produce on the farm, some or most of which will have been grown or reared on the farm. When you own a farm shop, you are tied down, and you are committed to opening hours. If you are married or have a partner, he or she may want to work in the shop while you are feeding livestock or working in the fields, but they may not. It is difficult for the two of you to go out for the day, and if you have young children, the problems extend to childminding while both parents are busy. If you close the shop, and no one is present on the premises, customers will turn to other sources if yours is not reliable. You can, of course, employ staff for your shop if you can afford it.

Arable farming – combining our wheat.

Farm shop.

If you are a first-generation farmer, you will probably start off in a small way, and then when finances allow, your enterprise will get bigger. Before you spend thousands of pounds on an enterprise, do your homework to make sure you can sell your produce. The best and easiest way into farming is, of course, growing up on a farm that is owned by a parent, who would probably have inherited it from their parents. You would have been brought up on this farm and helped when you were a small child gradually learning the ways of farming until you could do jobs like milking cows or driving tractors and operating machinery independently. Many farmers’ sons and daughters attend an agricultural course at college and sometimes work on other farms to gain experience including working abroad. Some sons or daughters would eventually become partners in the farm, or they would take over the farm when their parent retires. If there is more than one son or daughter interested in the farm, questions may arise as to who lives in the farmhouse or who is in charge of the farm. If the farm is to be shared between brothers and sisters, one or more of these may want to sell their share, which could become expensive for the remaining partners. The ideal situation is that you are the only son or daughter, and you want to farm the land. When I was a small boy, I remember watching a western film on the television. A cattle rancher took his son to the top of the hill and said in a real American drawl ‘One day, son, this will all be yours – as far as the eye can see.’ I can remember feeling really jealous! You could marry into farming, of course, preferably marrying an only son or daughter to avoid any inheritance complications!

During my time as a school teacher of agriculture and horticulture, I taught a few farmers’ sons and daughters, many of whom worked hard and, after leaving school, worked in agriculture or jobs connected with agriculture. However, a student called Eleanor springs to mind. Eleanor had a real interest in the school farm, and she helped to show our sheep at agricultural shows. In her last year at school, she was not working hard enough during lesson time, and I challenged her and told her that she needed to improve if she wanted a career in agriculture when she left school. Her answer was quite simply: ‘People with smart asses don’t need examination passes!’ She then stated quite positively, ‘It’s okay, sir, I’ll just marry a rich farmer!’ About 10 years later, I was showing sheep in Derbyshire, and there was Eleanor, holding hands with a young farmer. ‘This is Raymond,’ she proclaimed. ‘We got married two years ago. Raymond is in partnership with his father, and they own 800 acres. We have a large dairy herd, beef, sheep and arable, and we are just having a new farmhouse built.’ This is a true story and proves that it can be done but hopefully not at the expense of a loveless marriage. Marry the person not the farm!

Finding a partner who has the same interests and ambitions as you do is not an easy business. You are unlikely to find this partner – either in marriage or in business – in a pub or club or in the queue at the supermarket. Most of the population in Britain are townies and know nothing about the British countryside. If you ask most people today, they would not know a Holstein from a Jersey, or even an oak tree from an ash tree. The majority of the population are now disconnected from the countryside, and I am constantly appalled at the lack of knowledge that exists in the general public. After attending my rural studies lessons, my students had a good understanding of the countryside that would last a lifetime. Sadly, when I retired from teaching, my school farm finished and is now a wasteland. I can’t help thinking that all the richness of education that the countryside can offer is being neglected in favour of other subjects that are transitory in our lives. I have employed older teenagers on this farm, and they know nothing at all about farming or indeed the environment outside their own front doors. Their parents bring them in cars, and they are not encouraged to look further afield than their iPads or PlayStations. I once told the headmaster at my school that a parent had kindly offered to knit me a jumper from one of my Kerry Hill fleeces. His reply was ‘What a shame you have to kill a prize-winning sheep just to get a jumper!’ It just goes to prove that if you are brought up with nothing to do with the countryside, you will probably not be able to engender an interest in your offspring. I realise that we can’t all know everything about all subjects. I have a friend who can tell me instantly about any aircraft that happens to fly overhead, whereas I know nothing at all about aeroplanes. I was lucky enough to have relatives who were deeply involved with, and very knowledgeable about, the countryside, and I was blessed with parents who were willing to encourage and support my interests.

If you are 26 years old or under, the Young Farmers is a good meeting place. Sadly, membership has fallen, and some clubs have closed, but some are still thriving, and you don’t have to be a farmer or have a job connected with farming to join. I was a very active member of the Nuneaton Young Farmers’ Club and, over the years, became treasurer, chairman, club leader and a member of the advisory committee when I became too old to be a club member, and finally I was the club president. It is the youth movement for the countryside with the motto ‘Good farmers, good countrymen, good citizens.’

Country Link is an organisation you can join after you are too old to attend Young Farmers meetings. You need to be 26 or over and be interested in the countryside and rural activities. They have regular meetings and visit places of local interest. It is stated in their advertisements that couples and single people are welcome, but Country Link is not a dating agency; nevertheless, it is a good place to meet like-minded people.

You can advertise for a farming partner. After leaving school, I worked on a farm full time for a year. I asked my farm boss how he obtained his farm. ‘Oh I advertised,’ he said with a straight face: ‘“Farmer seeks a farming young lady with a view to possible marriage. Please send a photograph of the farm and tractors”.’ He roared with laughter, adding, ‘When I was 20, I couldn’t keep my hands off the wife – so I sacked the hands and bought a tractor!’ A friend of mine, Harry, had a text from the dating agency that said: ‘Your advertisement has been on our website for the last eight years and you have still had no replies – do you want us to try it for one week without a photograph?’ On a serious note, you can place an advertisement preferably in a country or farming magazine advertising for a partner with a view to marriage, or you can advertise for a business partner with capital, or a combination of these two. Alternatively, you can answer advertisements that have been placed in these magazines, or of course, you can find most things on the internet.

Renting

You can rent a farm complete with house and buildings. Many are privately owned and are often part of a large country estate; for example, the Crown is a massive landowner and takes on many tenants.

There are not as many county council holdings for rent as in previous years because much of the land has been sold off. Some counties have kept their tenancies on (60 county councils have council farms in England and Wales) and encourage farmers to get their first step on the farming ladder – Staffordshire being one of the best. They have 102 council farms in the county. They have starter units for new people entering the industry. The applicants must prepare a business plan and show what they will do with the farm. The average age of a new farmer on their county council farms is 32 years. The lease on a starter farm will probably be 10 years, and then after 10 years, if they have made a good job and want to continue, they may be offered a larger farm to rent, possibly doubling their acreage and being offered a lease for about 16 years. County council farms often have good buildings for dairy cows, and this is one of the best ways to get into dairying.

When a holding comes up for rent, it is advertised in farming magazines and on the internet. There could be over 100 applicants, possibly more. These tenancies are called Farm Business Tenancies, and they vary in the amount of time you can stay from 5, 10, 15 or 16 years or sometimes longer. Life tenancies are now very rare. Landlords will be looking for practical experience from you which could include a college course. You will also need capital, and they will try to get the highest rent they can. Rent will vary – a hill farm in Wales will cost less per hectare than an arable farm in Cambridgeshire.

Renting a field is much easier to come by than renting a farm complete with house and buildings. This is how many people get their first foot on the farming ladder, starting with one rented field and then finding some more, and then hopefully a field with some buildings. The field could be yours to use for just spring and summer, or autumn and winter, or long term. Many of these rented fields, however, are rented to people with horses and ponies because they are willing to pay a rent that is much higher than an agricultural rent – so you may find it difficult to compete with these people. Dairy farmers will often let out grass keep (which is easier to get than renting a field full time) in the late autumn when the cows are indoors, and they want grass grazing off by sheep. You need to be careful, because if you haven’t got a proper agreement, the owner could insist you take the sheep off the land at any time, and you could find yourself with nowhere to put your livestock. You may pay a fixed rent for the land or so much per head per week. When you rent, you may enter into a contract where you have a grazing licence, which enables you to use the field for an 11-month or 6-month period – a break may then be taken between 11 April and 6 May – landlords traditionally like tenants to have a break. The land may have water connected or not. If not, you will have to carry it in. If it is a dairy farm, it is unlikely to be fenced well enough for sheep, and so you would have to invest in some electric fencing and a battery fencing unit.

Buying

You can’t beat buying your land, but obviously you need some capital, which you may have had left you, or you have worked hard and saved your money. To go it alone and start an agricultural business, whether it be part time or full time, you really need to know about book keeping, selling and marketing, and talking to people. One in three new businesses in Britain fails in the first 3 years, often owing to not marketing the goods or services well enough, cash-flow problems or encountering customers that are bad payers (I know of a very good business that failed because the owner just could not get in the money he was owed). Partners can fall out – perhaps one partner wants to leave, or one partner does not work hard enough or takes too much money out of the business.

Then, of course, there is the great British weather, falling prices, rising costs of animal feed, pests and diseases, the bank calling in the loan and running out of money completely. The family can also be upset because you do not have enough time for holidays and weekends off. I was lucky my father was an office manager, and he did the accounts for me and then taught me how to do them. I have always been good at selling and could sell a lawnmower to someone without a lawn, and being a school teacher I am good at talking to people and dealing with farm staff. When dealing with staff, don’t leave everything to them – keep your finger on the pulse; watch and observe! Once you have decided what enterprises you are going to carry out, even if it is part time, you need a business plan, which you may need to show to the bank if you want a loan.

Buying second-hand buildings and equipment will save you money. If you run short of money, you might want to borrow from members of your family but any borrowings must be put in writing to save any falling out. If you decide to sell at the farm gate, you will need a website, which should look professional to sell your produce well.

Once you have rented or bought your field, you will need to consider the following things.

If you are completely on your own, you are known as a sole trader. You need to register your farm business with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and file a self-assessment tax return each year. An accountant will fill the forms in for you. Sole traders and business partners are self-employed, and if they make enough profit they must pay income tax. If you are self-employed, you normally have to pay class 2 National Insurance Contributions. If your profits are over a certain amount, you also pay class 4 contributions – check the HMRC website for details.

A limited company has directors and shareholders, and the advantage of a limited company is that it is the company that is responsible for debt, and not the owner. You will need to register for VAT if your annual sales go above a limit of £85,000 (figure correct as of 2021). VAT is a tax charged on most business transactions. Businesses add VAT to goods and services. The standard rate for VAT in 2021 is 20%. It is possible for the farmer to claim VAT back on many items. ‘Free’ money is rare but you could always try. You can possibly get a loan that is a government-backed Start Up loan – check the ‘Start your own business’ information on the government website for up-to-date information.

A New Enterprise Allowance is currently available for people aged 18 or over with a business idea that could work. The allowance can provide you with money and support to help you start your own business if you get certain benefits. You must check the website to see if you could qualify for help. You could get a weekly allowance paid for up to 26 weeks, up to a total of £1,274 (2021), and you could apply for a loan to help with start-up costs. The loan must be paid back, although the allowance need not be. A business mentor could also be available to help you.

The Prince’s Countryside Fund gives grants to support the people who care for the countryside. It supports rural enterprises and farming businesses, providing training opportunities for young people and educating people about the value of the countryside. The majority of the funding comes from supporting companies.

Chapter 2

CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE SINCE LEAVING THE EU

Farming in Britain is set to change radically as a result of leaving the EU. For years farmers relied on subsidies from the EU, without which many would not have survived. These EU farm subsidies were controversial because farmers received tax payers’ money which was based on the number of hectares they farmed – the more hectares they farmed the more money they would get.

From 2021 these subsidies will be reduced, and phased out by 2027. Payments received from the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are now going to be replaced by the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELM).

Under the ELM scheme farmers will have to look after the countryside and environment and will be paid for greener projects. These projects will attract schemes and grants and will probably include most of the following:

• Helping wildlife and rewilding of land

• Planting and felling trees, and promoting tree health

• Planting hedges

• Carbon capture in soils

• Managing soil water and floods

• Recovering peatland

• Stopping pollution

• Protecting old farm buildings

• Protecting stone walls

• Protecting landscapes

• Reclaiming and maintaining footpaths

• Crop rotation and soil conservation

• Payments for clean air

• Improving the welfare and animal health for all farm livestock

Payments received under the CAP will be reduced as follows:

Payment Band

2021

2022

2023

2024

Up to £30,000

5%

20%

35%

50%

£30,000 to £50,000

10%

25%

40%

55%

£50,000 to £150,000

20%

35%

50%

65%

More than £150,000

25%

40%

55%

70%

So the farmer will receive less money as each year goes on. On a small farm a farmer receiving £5000 under the Basic Payment Scheme would receive 5% less in 2021 (£4750), 20% in 2022 (£4000), 35% in 2023 (£3250) and 50% in 2024 (£2500). On average around 85,147 farmers received payments from the EU which accounted for 58% of their basic income. Therefore these reductions are a massive change which may result in many farmers being unwilling to carry out the proposed changes under the new policy. If farmers choose to leave farming altogether the government has announced a lump sum payment which they say will allow farmers to ‘retire with dignity’. Young farmers will be encouraged to enter the industry.

Government policy is now ‘public money for public goods’. Farmers can already receive money for looking after wildlife and the environment but the ELM will go a lot further. Farmers still don’t know exactly what they will be paid for. The government needs to state what all the public goods are and how much they are worth.

The ELM will be made up of three components, grouped into packages – sustainable farming incentive, local nature recovery and landscape recovery – and farmers will be able to choose a package that suits them. This should be in place by 2024. Environmentally sustainable land management is something all farmers can practise. The other areas are local nature recovery (looking after both flora and fauna) and landscape recovery. This includes rewilding of land and could involve the creation of ponds, lakes and wetland areas.

Cross compliance is a set of rules that farmers must obey, and if not adhered to subsidy payments could be cut.

Countryside Stewardship

This is only available until 2024. It is an environmental land management scheme that is available to all eligible farmers, land managers, land owners and tenants. All new agreements starting after 2024 will be taken over through the ELM. Upland farmers and farmers in protected landscapes will be provided with funding and a grant will be available to improve water quality.

Another big change is the livestock information programme. The British Movement Service (BCMS for cattle), the Animal Reporting and Movement Service (ARAMS for sheep) and the British Pig Executive (BPex for pigs, known as the eAML2) will all be replaced by the end of 2022 with a paperless system of recording. High standards on farms will be enhanced further with capital grants available to support vets coming onto farms for health and welfare planning for livestock.

From 2021 funds will be available for automated farm equipment and technology as well as farm slurry systems and water storage. With all these changes the ELM will move to a much more climate- and environmentally-friendly support system. Hopefully the ELM will offer a good income – equally as good as the Single Farm Payment and with the ability to support food production. However, many farmers have their doubts.

I am proud to be a first-generation farmer, and my top priority is to be a good farmer. This farm is only 13.92 hectares (34.5 acres) and we need all the land for arable crops, sheep pasture and hay, and for the free-range hens. It will be difficult to do much conservation work on this small acreage, but we have planted two lines of trees along the farm drive and planted up a large bank which borders one of our fields. I plan to bring our pond back – it was filled in when Jonathan was born – and know I will have to do more for the environment to get the new payments. A wide grass verge borders our farm, with a mature hedge and ditch running alongside the lane, flanked by mature trees and good ground cover. This environment supports a good breeding population of birds including blackbirds, song thrushes, robins, hedge sparrows, common whitethroats and lesser whitethroats. My wife Sarah has introduced a bird table to the garden which attracts at least 15 species, including great spotted woodpeckers.

Sadly many of my farming friends who have been brought up on farms know all about arable farming or beef cattle but have little knowledge of wildlife. One friend doesn’t know a carrion crow from a rook; another doesn’t know an oak tree from an ash. The older generation were all-round country people who could recognise birds and nests, identify wild flowers, cut and lay a hedge, plough with horses, work with all kinds of livestock and do most of the jobs around the farm. Hopefully the ELM will encourage the relearning of appropriate skills in order to properly equip the managers of the countryside with the in-depth knowledge and understanding required to adequately maintain a long-lasting relationship with the flora and fauna of our environment that has been overlooked in recent years.

I would like to see councils managing grass verges better, with less mowing and more planting of trees, hedges and wild flowers, and new housing built on brown field sites and derelict land rather than prime arable and grass land. It is depressing to see brick, concrete and tarmac where mature trees, hedges and meadow used to be.

Trade Deals

Now we have left the EU trade deals have been negotiated with just over 60 countries, including the EU. Trade deals make it easier to sell our goods abroad and to import foreign goods. At the time of writing 55% of our food is home produced and 45% is imported. These trade deals are controversial, with British farmers having to compete with cheap food from abroad which may have been produced at much lower standards than food produced in the UK. We have very high standards in food production and our animal welfare is probably second to none. We could import cheap beef, for instance, but it could be produced with not only low welfare standards but also low environmental standards, which has a knock-on effect on global warming.

Obviously much of our food cannot be grown in Britain because we don’t have a warm enough climate. Bananas, tea and coffee are good examples. However, we also import a lot of food that can be grown here from countries with lower wages: 130,000 tonnes of chicken is reared in Thailand and imported, and many of our vegetables are grown in Holland.

Times have changed; 200 years ago the UK was almost self-sufficient, but as the years went by more food was imported from the British Empire. In the early 1900s we were only 30% self-sufficient. During the wars we grew more food; in World War II we were encouraged to ‘Dig for Victory’, planting more vegetables in gardens and on farms. Farmers were made to plough up grassland to plant crops such as potatoes and wheat. I am a believer in growing and rearing as much food as we can in Britain, especially eating local produce which saves on food miles. Imported food can be cheap and plentiful, but being cheap doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the best for us and for the environment.

Chapter 3

BUYING YOUR FIRST FIELD

First, and above all, you need some capital. I was fortunate in that I didn’t need a bank loan or mortgage to buy my fields, but I wasn’t left the money in a will – I worked hard to get it, working on farms, teaching, and giving talks and after dinner speeches. The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation are the specialists in providing mortgages for established farms, equestrian rural business and horticulture. However, they are probably not the company for you because, for example, if you lived in a three-bedroomed house with a mortgage, on a normal housing estate, and you wanted to buy your first field, they would not be interested in lending you money. They will only lend to you if you have an existing farm showing 3 years of healthy accounts and showing a profit, which is not encouraging for the first-generation farmer, so to borrow money in this situation, you would have to go to the bank or the building society. Generally, the smaller the parcel of land, the more money it fetches per acre or hectare. A 2 acre (0.809 hectare) paddock suitable for ponies will cost a lot more per acre than a 100 acre (40.46 hectare) arable field. It may be your ambition to build a house on it one day and so live on the premises. If it is a 1 acre field, then this is unlikely – you stand more chance of achieving this with a larger field or fields. I really think this is an excellent option to get on the farming ladder – as long as you have enough money or you can get enough money to buy.

When you become a land owner, you have rights; if you own the land outright, you are not going to be forced off it by a landlord – admittedly, if you owe the bank and can’t repay your loan, they could call in the loan, but if you keep up your payments, you will be safe.

Agricultural land is sold by rural estate agents. If you want a field or fields in a certain area, you must contact these estate agents to see if any land is for sale. If not, ask to be on their mailing lists and email lists, and then if a suitable field comes up for sale, they will send you the details.

Estate agents will put a ‘For Sale’ sign up on the edge of the field, in the gateway or in the hedge. This is how I found my first field. Land is advertised every week in farming magazines such as Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian and on the internet. You will probably have to be patient to find something suitable and in the area you want to be in. The following is what you need to look out for:

Guide Price – e.g. £75,000–85,000 of Pasture Land Extending to 6.4 Acres

1. Tenure – E.g. freehold.

2. Situation – The property may have planning permission for buildings or a mobile home, or just outline planning permission. This will, of course, make the property more valuable. If the field adjoins the edge of a village or town, the chances of building a house are enhanced, but the chances of putting up a pig unit may be reduced, as this would be very unpopular with the local residents. Fields that are situated in areas of outstanding natural beauty or land in National Parks or conservation areas will cause problems when you try to get planning permission for buildings and a house. You will be restricted on the materials that you can use, the siting of the buildings and the architectural style.

3. Description of the property – A good loam soil with plenty of depth is ideal. Rocky ground with only a thin covering of soil will not grow a good crop and would also be difficult to cultivate. It would be expensive to dig out for buildings. A steep hill is again difficult to grow crops on and is dangerous for use by tractors and implements. A hill farm would cost less per hectare than a lowland farm but would probably not have such a good depth of soil or kind climate, and so you will be restricted in what you can grow and what breeds of livestock and the number of livestock you can keep. If the land is prone to flooding, then it is probably not advisable to put buildings or a house on it. The Environment Agency website will show if the land is in a risk area. Some winters are now very wet, so check the district to see if it floods. It must be heartbreaking to sow a crop and see it ruined.

Flooded farm land February 2014.

4. Access – Land is best accessed from a road; road frontage is a definite bonus, but beware of dangerous bends in the road. These could affect planning permission for a house at a later date. Some land can only be accessed by a right of way. The right to use this must be formal and not just a verbal agreement. I have been lucky that all the fields I have purchased have had road frontage.

5. Services – Many fields are sold with no services on the land. Land connected to water and electricity will be worth more to you than land not connected to existing utility services. It is unlikely that an isolated field will be connected to sewage pipes.

6. Plans and particulars – The catalogue that is sent out to you from the estate agents will include a plan of the land, and they usually say ‘It is believed to be correct in every way,’ which covers their backs in case there is a mistake. Boundary ownership, where known, is indicated on the maps by an inward ‘T’ shape.

7. Wayleaves, easements and rights of way – An easement is a right over one piece of land existing for the benefit of another piece of land, e.g. British Rail may have an easement over part of the land for maintenance and repair of the railway, or a neighbour may have the right to use a farm drive. If the electricity company has poles that stay erected in the field, the owner of the field will probably receive a wayleave payment for allowing the poles and stays on the land. Take note of public footpaths and bridleways that cross the land – I have none.

8. Uplift clause – Sometimes the land is sold subject to an uplift clause, which might be 25% should planning consent be granted for either commercial or residential use over a period of time – perhaps 25 years from the date of sale. This means that the vendor has a legal right to a share in the increase in value of the land. In my opinion, this is not fair – once you sell a property, you should sell it lock, stock and barrel, and that’s it. Many would not agree with me – certainly not the sellers – but buyers don’t like it, and it puts many off purchasing the land.

9. Restrictive covenant – Beware: this could include ‘Not at any time hereafter the sale to build, erect or place or allow to be built, erected or placed on the property or any part thereof any hut, tent, temporary dwelling, caravan, house on wheels or encampment intended for use as a dwelling.’ This is not good if you want to build up a farm.

10. Under the Basic Payment Scheme you could receive entitlements on your land – meaning that you were entitled to a subsidy. This may change under the new ELM rules.

Local Authority

e.g. North Warwickshire Borough Council plus a telephone number.

Vendor’s Solicitor

The vendor’s solicitors prepare legal information packs including searches, title deeds and Land Registry entries. If you need to borrow money, your bank or building society will ask a surveyor to prepare a valuation report. Your solicitor will need to carry out all your legal requirements, and you will have stamp duty and legal fees to pay. Don’t forget the old farming question: ‘What’s the difference between your bull and your solicitor? The solicitor charges more!’

Viewing

If it is an isolated field, viewing is often during reasonable daylight hours with a copy of the particulars to hand – this being an authority to view. It is essential that you visit the site before purchasing, as it may be a disappointment when you see it, or it might be just what you are looking for. If possible, take an experienced farmer with you to get a second opinion. Look at the guide price and then work out what you think the land is worth to you. Work out how much you can afford to pay and in your mind decide what your top price will be. You will probably need to go to the bank or building society to arrange a loan, and you will also need to sort out your savings – putting them all into the same account – you will not be allowed to pay cash. If the land is overgrown with weeds, it might put some buyers off. Old and derelict buildings may also discourage some, but it may be a good thing, as it may be easier to get planning permission for new buildings where the old buildings stood. The field or fields may have a history of failed planning applications – you can check this out by visiting council offices’ planning departments. The owners of the first field that I purchased had applied to build a house on it, and the application was refused, which was not surprising, as there was no agricultural business on site, and it is a greenfield site.

The National Planning Policy Framework does change from time to time, so check out their website for up-to-date information. Also, you can check the Land Registry – they record land sold, and you can find out what has been sold in your area. If you go and locate this land, you can see what has been done with it. If land is sold privately, the asking price may be included in the advertisement, or you may have to contact the estate agent to find out. The price could be negotiable, so you may be able to put an offer in just as you would when buying a house. Note that the guide price is not the figure that the property will sell at – just a guide.

Informal Tender

Land can be sold by informal tender. Bids are submitted in an open or sealed envelope. Envelopes are opened by the estate agents as they receive them. After making your bid, the estate agent may contact you after the closing date and ask if you would like to increase your bid because they have had higher bids than yours.

Formal Tender

Formal tender is another method of buying land. Offers are returned in a sealed envelope and are all opened together on a published date and time. The highest bidder buys the land and will have to complete the sale on the contract-appointed date.

An auction in progress.

Buying at Auction

Buying at auction is an excellent way to obtain land. Most lots offered for sale are subject to a reserve price. This price is agreed with the vendor and auctioneer, and is confidential. You may also have asked a builder or architect to survey the property. I have bought twice at auction, and believe me, your pulse rate will certainly rise! You will have completed your site visits, decided what you can do with it and sorted out your financial arrangements before sale day. You may want to make an offer before sale day, which may be accepted, in which case the sale would be cancelled. This offer must be in writing or by email or fax. Many vendors would not accept offers before the auction. On auction day, arrive in plenty of time. If you are the successful buyer, you will need to pay a deposit of 10–20% of the selling price on the day and pay the balance usually within 20–30 working days. You could lose your deposit if you fail to complete the sale on time.

The land that you are interested in probably won’t be the only lot for sale. There will be a number of properties auctioned that day. I had to wait until the end of the sale to buy my two fields at auction sitting through the sales of complete farms and country houses – the waiting is very agonising. I like to sit at the back of the room in the centre. From this position, you can see what is going on, and at the same time you are out of the limelight. At the start of your lot, the auctioneer will announce if there are any changes to the details shown or anything to add. He may talk about similar lots that have recently been sold. He will praise them up if they have reached a high price, encouraging you to bid. The use of favourite phrases such as ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get this land’ really help to get your pulse racing. The vendor may bid, or the auctioneer may bid on behalf of the vendor up to the reserve price but may not take a bid equal to or more than the reserve price. I don’t open the bidding even when I am buying sheep at auction. Sometimes the first bids will be false which may be made by the auctioneer’s staff – this helps to get the auction underway. You must concentrate and make sure the auctioneer has got your bid. You may see others bidding, but some will bid discreetly with perhaps a nod or a wink. Keep your concentration and your cool, and make sure you don’t bid against yourself.

If you are lucky enough to have the last bid, the auctioneer will probably say ‘I’m selling once’ and pause, ‘I’m selling twice’ and pause, ‘I’m selling for the third and last time’ and then shout ‘Sold!’, and the hammer will go down. The land is yours, and you have entered into a contract. In the excitement of the bidding, you may want to keep going above your maximum price, but it is important not to get carried away and then find you can’t pay. On the other hand, don’t lose the property over a small amount. If the reserve price has not been made, the lot will not be sold. If you still think you can afford the property, you need to see the auctioneer straight after the sale – don’t leave it even 5 minutes, because you may lose it to someone else.

When you have purchased your property, you will feel excited and relieved, and almost have to pinch yourself to believe what you have done. You will also wonder whether you have done the right thing and worry about how much money you have just spent, but on the whole you will feel elated. Your property will need insurance as soon as you have exchanged contracts, as it is now your responsibility, especially if it has a house or buildings on it. Land is a good investment. I paid £21,000 for 3.164 hectares (7.82 acres) in June 1989 – £6637.16 per hectare, £2685.42 an acre. In February 2009, I paid £77,500 for 3.273 hectares (8.09 acres) – £23,678.58 per hectare, £9579.72 an acre.

When you have bought your land, you need to check that it has a holding number. If it is a complete, established farm, it will have one. If it is an isolated field, it will probably once have been part of a farm, and you can’t use the old holding number, as the rest of the farm will still be using it – you will need a new number, which you can get by registering over the telephone or filling in a customer registration form at the Rural Payments Agency. They will need to know the full postal address of the field, but if it hasn’t got one, you need to give them a grid reference. The holding number is made up of three lots of numbers – the first lot is the County, the second lot is the Parish, and the third is your unit holding number, e.g. 21 211 0041.

Chapter 4

SERVICES: ELECTRICITY AND WATER

Mains Electricity

When I bought my first field in June 1989, there was no electricity on site. I was eager to start my free-range poultry enterprise. I bought the building, and contractors erected it and fitted it out with all the equipment. I purchased the pullets, and I was up and running all without mains electricity.

I purchased a second-hand generator, which was powerful enough to run the lights, fans and chain feeders, but there was one problem: the fuel tank would not hold enough fuel to keep the generator working throughout the night. I was living with my parents at the time, so every evening at 10 pm I travelled the 2½ miles to the poultry unit, filled the generator and went home to bed. My father was good enough to get up early in the morning and drive up to the poultry unit to fill the fuel tank before 6 am. I had applied for electricity to come on site before the poultry unit was even built, but I had to wait about 3 months for it to be supplied. Today, my local electricity company tells me that the timescale depends on your location and how far away you are from the existing supply. You will need to be connected to the nearest suitable transformer or substation. You have the option of the supply being brought to your land on poles or the more expensive option of underground cables. If you choose to go for the underground cables, the electricity company will do all the work, but you are allowed to dig out the trench yourself or with contractors, which will probably be less expensive. Before you start digging, the electricity company will come out on a site visit and show you the best place to dig, and of course, you need to avoid existing underground cables and pipes.

Electrician connecting my electricity to the poultry unit.

To get mains electricity onto my land, I chose the less expensive poles option. The company carried out all the work, which cost £5000 in 1990.

We then had to build a small shed to house our electrical fuse boxes and meters and dig a trench from the last pole to the box to lay cable. We also needed a trench to lay cable from the box to the poultry unit, so all of this, including the equipment, cost another £1000. This last lot of work was carried out by a local electrician, who was excellent. We have employed a few electricians since then (including the present one, Stuart), who drive Volkswagen vans with the ‘Volkswagen’ crossed out on the back and replaced with the word ‘voltswagen’. Stuart also tells me he is up to date because he is a current specialist. Each year, I receive a wayleave payment for each pole and stay that stands on my land.

Water Supply

Water flowed very slowly down old lead pipes from my neighbour’s farm to my first field. It was metered, so I had to pay my neighbour twice a year, and then she paid Severn Trent Water. I wouldn’t have dared drink the water, as it often had bits of metal in it. I ran my poultry unit using this water for a while, and I never had any trouble with the hens dying after drinking it, but it is advisable to flush the drinking-water through with an approved chemical occasionally to stop the build-up of bacteria, which could affect the health of your hens. When I had enough money, I was connected to the mains water supply in anticipation of building a dwelling. If you are lucky, you will buy a field or field plus buildings or even land including a house, which will have a mains water supply. Make sure you know where the stop tap is – it is usually under the sink in a dwelling. Your supply pipes could be old lead pipes, and if so I would advise getting them changed to plastic. Lead pipes are not used these days because they are considered to be harmful to health. If you decide to replace any lead pipes on your property, it is your responsibility to fund the work. The water company will connect the new pipes to their network and replace their lead pipes if necessary. Lead pipes are a dull grey in colour and are easily identified; however, renovating lead pipes in your house could leave your home unsafe. Years ago, lead pipes were used as an electrical earth, so ask your electrician for advice before going ahead.

Your water pressure could be low for a number of reasons:

1. if the water supply pipe is not just for you but is shared by you and neighbours;

2. the height of your property above the water main;

3. peak demand – when many people are all using water at the same time;

4. the layout of the water pipes inside and outside the buildings;

5. possible leaks.

If you have a water meter, it is easy to check for leaks. Turn off all taps, and then wait for half an hour. Read your meter. Keep your taps turned off for an hour, and then read your meter again. If the reading has increased, you have got a leak – you will also see the numbers moving on the meter. If the leak is on your property, it is up to you to repair it. Check to see if your pipes are lagged, especially in unheated barns, buildings and outside at the water tanks and external taps. Lagging is important, as frozen pipes mean that livestock are not getting their water. Burst pipes make a mess, and it is extra work repairing them.

Contractor digging out a trench to lay water pipes for my poultry unit.

Bringing Water Onto Your Land