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.

Western Morning News – 12.02.14 – Trade in milk quota still strong, despite its demise

The New Year is now fully underway and this is the busy paperwork season for us with milk quota, with this year’s deadline on the 31st March. I will resist commenting on the misquotes, misrepresentations and then further misquotes from these misquotes, in respect to the sudden increase in milk quota trading. Perhaps one needs…

Farm Facts 2014

Farmers Guardian – 07.02.14 – Great shake causing a flurry in milk quota

Western Morning News – 05.02.14 – Do your trading well before the April deadline

Following strong trading up to the end of 2013, January has continued to see a lot of activity in the market. Non-SDA entitlement trade remained at £300 per hectare to mid-January following the announcement of the roll-over of English entitlements at the end of October. This however led to an oversupply of vendors, which subsequently…

Western Morning News – 22.01.14 – Vital drop-in centres for Rural Payments Agency forms axed

After several months of correspondence with the RPA explaining the difficulties their decision to close the drop-in centres will cause, we now have confirmation that they will not consider running their drop-in centres for RLE1 forms in the week leading up to the entitlement transfer deadline on the 2nd April. This now puts pressure on both…

TCS newsletter – 21.01.14 – 2014 Entitlement Trading Update

The end of 2013 saw strong trade for Non-SDA entitlements, with some purchasers achieving good rates before the English roll-over was confirmed. Prices continued fairly steadily in the first half of January 2014 at their post roll-over rate of £300 per unit plus VAT for Non-SDA, with Non-VATable entitlements making up to £340 per unit,…

TCS newsletter – 20.12.13 – December Entitlement Trading Update – What To Do With Less Than 5ha – DEFRA CAP Consultation Responses – Crop Diversification – Naked Acres & Hosting – Milk Quota

DECEMBER ENTITLEMENT TRADING UPDATE December trade for Non-SDA entitlements has been strong, up approximately 59% on the same period in 2012, with many purchasers utilising their 2013 SPS payments to top-up their entitlements in preparation for the new scheme starting in 2015. As usual we have seen additional purchasers come onto the market, newly ‘cashed…

Farmers Weekly – 13.12.13 – Entitlement Trade boosted by CAP Progress

https://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/13/12/2013/142450/entitlement-trade-boosted-by-cap-progress.htm

TCS newsletter – 13.12.13 – Two New Fact Sheets – TB Movement Control & Cattle Movement Restrictions

Stricter penalties for missed or late TB tests DEFRA has announced that from 1st January 2014 farmers will start to receive significant financial penalties if they are found to be late on their regular interval TB tests. The announcement comes on the back of a new agreement between the Animal Health & Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA)…

Farmers Guardian – 06.12.13 – Future of Farming set to be Unveiled by MPs

With the consultation period now over, having closed for comments on the 28th November, all that is left for us to do is wait for more details of the direction that the Government will send farming in the UK until 2020. News on these decisions has been promised before Parliament breaks for Christmas on 19th December. We…