As new opportunities become available to farmers and land owners, John Robson gives his view on whether you should side with the wizards or the prophets. Whilst travelling to a farm appointment recently, I was intrigued by a radio interview given by Henry Dimbleby who recently left his post as an advisor to DEFRA in order to take a more robust stan...

 Our annual Grass Let Auction will take place on Tuesday 28th March 2023 at 1pm in The Hired Lad, Penrith Auction Mart.For the full brochure, click below or contact James Morgan on 01768 866611 Download PDF File Here

Penrith Farmers' and Kidd's PLC announces the acquisition of the entire share capital of rural-based professional services Company Robson and Liddle (Rural) Limited. The deal brings together 2 of the leading land and property services organisations in the region and reinforces the Company's focus on its agricultural client base. The full press rele...

DEFRA have announced the long awaited details of the new Slurry Infrastructure Grant.The aim of the grant is to help farmers achieve six months slurry storage capacity based on their existing livestock numbers.The grant also requires that the slurry store must have an impermeable cover. The grant permits farmers toinstall more than six months stora...

At PFK, we have a dedicated Planning team - find out below how they can help you today: Why do I need a Planning Consultant? Planning Consultants have an expert knowledge of regulations and can therefore play a vital role in obtaining permission for projects with complex needs. Even if you have a knack for understanding intricate rules, securing pe...

As we move through to the final third of 2022, things are still continually evolving with regard to the new farm support schemes, and the changing BPS with us now knowing a little more than we did earlier in the year, but still awaiting details of many of the new schemes. There are some up and coming deadlines, which need not to be missed: The appl...

As we transition into Autumn, Jo Edwards writes why now is the best time to sell your rural property: As we move into the final third of 2022, I for one am not sure where summer has gone. Up here in Cumbria, we have been extremely lucky in that we have had a generally warm and dry summer, but have not suffered the very hot and extremely dry co...

Whilst the recent heatwave will assist in bringing forward hay time and harvest (both of which look encouraging), commodity prices have begun to ease but still look to be well above where many would expect or want them to be. Farming, more than many industries, rarely has the luxury of certainty making budgeting at the moment quite a challenge but ...

A recent vote undertaken in Whitby has seen the community vote resoundingly in favour of imposing restrictions on second homes, with the aim of ensuring that all new homes built in area are for full-time and primary occupation. Many coastal and rural communities have experienced a significant increase in the proportion of homes in their area being ...

On Wednesday 8 July 2022, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove announced that a revised National Planning Policy Framework will be published in July. This was a bit of a surprise announcement which generated much discussion within the planning and development sector. His announcement was made in response to...

Bringing you all the latest up to date information, our latest newsletter is now available to view by clicking the link below: https://mailchi.mp/57b37b38f764/pfk-land-agency-summer-newsletter-2022 In this newsletter, you'll find Jo Edwards' outlook on what we can expect in the coming months, why there is no time to waste when it comes to new ...

 England is now in the second year of the phasing out of the current Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) and the transition to the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, these new schemes are based on the principal of 'public money for public goods', paying farmers and landowners public money for carrying out farming and land management acti...

With spring now well underway bringing with it the welcome feelings of a new season of fresh growth and longer days, from a Land Agent's perspective it's usually a barometer of where things are within the agricultural sector.Despite the very real concerns associated with rising fertilizer, energy, fuel and feed costs, demand for land remains high a...

As a response to current cash flow issues, DEFRA has announced today (Friday, 6th May) that it is now using its freedom out the CAP to make a first half payment of this year's Basic Payment in England in July to those who have made eligible applications by 16th May. The balance of the payment will then be paid from December in the usual paymen...

At the end of March 2022, all of the Local Planning Authorities in Cumbria received 'Nutrient Neutrality Notifications' from Natural England in relation to rivers and waterbodies in the catchments of Protected Habitat Sites. Natural England have issued this advice where Habitats Sites are in an unfavourable conservation status and additional nutrie...

Over the last month there have been many announcements from the Government about future schemes and opportunities available to farmers.The most recent announcement gave more detail on the Animal Health and Welfare Review under which pig, sheep and cattle farmers will be able to apply for a grant for an annual vet visit to help to look at the follow...

 The long awaited details of the Lump Sum Exit Scheme (the "retirement scheme") have been announced by the Government. If you have given up land since 2020, or are contemplating giving up then this is something which should be considered.The headline details are:The payment will be calculated from a reference period of 2019 to 2021, and the av...

PFK have been helping farmers, landowners, developers, rural businesses and individuals in all aspects of rural development for over 145 years. Our planning services encompass new residential development and agricultural workers dwellings, agricultural buildings and permitted development rights, local and agricultural occupancy conditions, lawful d...

There has been plenty written recently about planning for the future given the changes which are pending in the agricultural industry, but one type of planning which seems to be in short supply is the planning on how to pass on your farm to the next generation. In a recent survey carried out by NFU Mutual, it found that 52% of farmers surveyed did ...

Whilst it is no doubt nice to be able to look back on what, for many, has been a successful year in the farming calendar, with all commodity prices showing significant gains on recent years, as everyone in agriculture is aware, this shouldn't mask the changes that we all face in terms of the pending start to the reduction in the payments received u...