News
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 – 19.12.12 – Entitlement market
Income from the Single Farm Payment may well be more critical in 2013 with reduced incomes in the arable sector, and the high prices for grain affecting the livestock sector. Wheat prices continuing to rise from £210 per tonne will only help those who did not have to sell early more than they would have…
Read MoreFarmers Guardian – 10.12.12 – Intelligence
The average farm is like any other small business whereby there is copious information that needs to be collected, siphoned, and analysed to keep that business running at its most efficient. One may think that in the digital age this must be so much easier with so much readily available information. However this is the…
Read MoreFarmers Guardian – 07.12.12 – The Single Farm Payment
The uncertainty continues but as expected, with MEPs delaying decisions on the CAP reform, whilst not yet officially announced, practically it can be assumed that the current Single Payment Scheme will continue to the end of 2014 at least. With the “default setting” for the 2013 EU budgets if nothing otherwise is agreed, hopefully we…
Read MoreFarmers Guardian – 07.09.12 – Managing changes to ELS
To ensure a new ELS agreement will fall under the old Third Edition Handbook, a valid application must be submitted before the end of September to have a start date for the 1st December 2012, prior to the new rules coming in to effect from the 1st January 2013. The new Handbook has not yet…
Read MoreFarmers Guardian – 01.06.12 – Can’t agree the farm rent?
Something many are facing for the first time, as farm incomes have increased, are considerable rent increases. What is involved if you cannot agree? Under an Agricultural Holding Act tenancy, after service of the notice at least 12 months beforehand, an application has to be made before the review date to appoint an Arbitrator. With…
Read MoreFarmers Guardian – 02.03.12 – Permanent pasture – can I plough or not?
More and more of our clients are asking this question, and whilst the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture)(England)(2) Regulations 2006 will be reviewed shortly, it is unlikely things will become any simpler when making a decision as to whether a particular field of permanent pasture can be ploughed up. Unfortunately there is not a quick answer….
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