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.

Farmers Weekly – 01.04.16 – Entitlements – COMMENT

Townsend Chartered Surveyors comment click here

Western Morning News – 30.03.2016 – Online entitlement transfers

The good news is that, when the online transfer system works, it will enable agents to identify issues with vendors before a sale proceeds and reduce complications that have to be sorted out after the deadline, avoiding vendors making mistakes and contractually having to pay compensation to purchasers for lost BPS claims. The bad news…

Farmers Weekly – 11.03.2016 – Common land farmers face challenge on 2016 BPS process

To view/download Townsend Chartered Surveyors comment click here

Western Morning News – 09.03.2016 – BPS 2016 – Opportunities for commoners

The RPA has published today guidance for Common Land and Shared Grazing – click here Commons claims for BPS5 are yet again after last year’s fiasco going to cause similar problems this year. However what is becoming apparent is that there are some interesting opportunities for anyone with commons rights whether they have claimed before…

Western Morning News – 24.02.2016 – Entitlements 2016 trading update

English Non-SDA The market started last August at £190 per hectare but rapidly rose through October and the beginning of November to £250 per hectare. Buyers at this time felt there would be a lack of supply as entitlements that were unused in 2015 were confiscated in the first year of the Basic Payment Scheme….

Farmers Guardian – 29.01.16 – Was last year a blip for farmgate prices?

The clement climate and lack of natural disasters worldwide in 2015 has left us with an oversupplied global market in grain, with wheat prices now at £100 a tonne. Thankfully the UK also had a good harvest but the immediate outlook is pretty chilly; however the medium to long term demand for food worldwide is…

Western Morning News – 27.01.16 – Farming can recover from bad year

Western Morning News – 13.01.2016 – Care must be taken with agricultural property relief

Mr Osborne’s budget in the summer of 2015 implemented a staged increase in the Inheritance Tax (IHT) threshold from £325,000 to £500,000 between 2017 and 2021 via the ‘family home allowance’. This can then be doubled for married couples and civil partners. This is all very well, but what about additional agricultural assets on and…

Farm Facts 2016

The 2016 edition of our handy pocket sized Farm Facts leaflet is now available. If you would like a free hard copy of the leaflet to be posted to you, please telephone us on 01392 823935 or email us at office@townsendcharteredsurveyors.co.uk with your postal details. Alternatively, if you would like to view or download Farm Facts 2016, please…

Western Morning News – 09.12.2015 – Lifting AOCs

With agricultural prices depressed again farmers are looking for means of diversification or other ways to raise additional working capital. One to consider is the lifting of an agricultural occupancy condition (AOC) applying to a farmhouse or cottage. The value of a dwelling with an AOC can in the worst case scenario be depressed by…