News - Townsend Chartered Surveyors

Hugh Townsend has for 25 years been the country's "go-to" commentator on farm quotas and rural surveying issues affecting farmers. Having become the country's leading and most innovative quota agent he was broadcast to 3.8 million listeners on Radio 4's PM programme interviewed by Eddie Mayer on the 1st April 2015 – the Dawning of Europe without Milk Quotas, click here. More recently BBC1 interviewed Hugh Townsend on the future of farming following the Referendum, click here.

Hugh Townsend has over the years developed the most creative arrangements to promote an efficient market in farm quotas, in the early eighties developing leasing milk quota without land before the Milk Marketing Board introduced leasing for a part of the milk year.

He represented clients in leading legal cases defending transfers of milk quota and developed the new system of second TQ1 forms protecting the transfer of quotas with land.

In 1991, with Farmers Weekly he produced the first sale price index countrywide and started to publish farm quota sales and leasing graphs which are still published by Farmers Weekly and other publications and can be seen on our Milk Quota & Entitlements pages.

On BBC television he has defended dairy farmers who have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous inpiduals in the farm quota market and was again on television to comment on the "footballers buy milk quota" rumpus.

He regularly writes for Farmers Guardian and the South West's Western Morning News and our experienced team is sought after for their comments on farm quotas.

17.02.2021 – Western Morning News – BPS Claims 2021 – Lessons Learnt

The English BPS claim window is to open on the 18th March. So now is a good time to remember just a few of the Scheme’s intricacies, both from its inception and from more recent changes. Commons usage It is well known that anyone with pannage or pasturage rights over any of the nation’s commons,…

03.02.2021 – Western Morning News – RPA Update the Future of Farming: BPS, Countryside Stewardship and ELMS

The passing of the Agriculture Act 2020 anticipates a formal move from the BPS area payment to the ‘public money for public goods’ of the Environmental Land Management Scheme. The Act allows funding for practices aimed at improving biodiversity, air and water quality and soil health. The Rural Payments Agency have since released details of…

5.1.2021 – Farmers Weekly – Carbon credits explained – Long term income option for farmers

Farmers looking to combine environmental benefits with a guaranteed long-term income stream should consider carbon credits. By planting trees, restoring peatland or adapting soil management plans, landowners can help both remove and reduce the amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Buyers – generally either the government or large companies looking to offset…

16.12.2020 – Welsh Agriculture Bill – White Paper – BPS payment in full 2021 & 2022

On Wednesday 16th December the Welsh Government announced a white paper for the Agriculture (Wales) Bill. The Bill is expected to be published in 2022 with the legislative framework coming into effect from 2023. This Bill will govern future support for Welsh agriculture, provide regulatory reform, encourage forestry and woodland creation and improve animal health…

16.12.2020 – Western Morning News – It may be time to revisit woodland planting

Much has been made of the upcoming reductions to agricultural subsidies. BPS is to fall by 25% for the largest claimants next year, with further reductions to follow. The popular RDPE Growth Fund and Countryside Productivity Scheme have now closed for new applicants and very little is currently known about the Farming Investment Fund set to…

11.12.2020 – Farmers Weekly – Exit payments: What should farmers do to prepare for 2022?

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11.11.2020 – AUTUMN 2020 NEWSLETTER

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1.12.20 – English Government launches the path to sustainable farming: an agricultural transition plan 2021 to 2024

On the 30th November 2020, following the Agriculture Act 2020 receiving Royal Assent on 11th November, DEFRA published two new documents setting out their intentions for the future of agricultural grants and subsidies in England during the agricultural transition. The publications detail these changes over a relatively long timescale, up until 2024, so we cannot…

1.12.2020 – Western Morning News – Telecoms leases under the Electronic Communications Code

As the 5G rollout continues to intensify, so too will the numbers of farmers and landowners with telecommunications masts on their holdings. This means that the laws governing leases for this kind of equipment will only become more important. Like agricultural tenancies, telecoms leases are governed by their own specific legislation. This is known as…

FREE CHRISTMAS PRIZE DRAW

1ST PRIZE – FREE PLANNING ADVICE FOR A FARM BUILDING CLASS Q APPLICATION – 21ST DECEMBER To celebrate Christmas and the New Year Townsend Chartered Surveyors is offering a prize for anyone with a farm building they would like to convert for residential use. If you win this draw, we will assist you in preparing…