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 “catch” where there now probably is too much information and coming from an increasing number of different sources. One now may have to have one’s eye on the post, the facsimile, newspapers and farming publications, email, websites, Facebook and Twitter. On top of this Brussels is still producing more and more regulation, most of which for any individual business can be irrelevant but those bits that are relevant can be vital. One can see how a degree in data management has become a necessity! If considering farming, either buying or renting, whilst there are organisations providing excellent updates again there can be too many. We noticed a distinctive demand from our clients asking for a comprehensive list of what grants were available and a calendar of key dates throughout the year which could be readily at hand. With this in mind we produced our Farm Facts 2012 which is a slim-line pocket-size extendable waterproof pamphlet. Other “nitty gritty” figures and notes were also included; the type of minutiae one does not always hold in one’s head and you just want to double check to make sure. It very much includes the sort of information that as land agents we would want to have readily available, which we are always being asked over the phone by clients. Subsequently it is a land agent’s guide as much as a farmer or land owner’s guide although as a result we believe it is of far greater use to both. If you would like a free of charge copy of the 2013 edition please email us and if, as we did last year, we run out of copies we will ensure at least you receive a pdf copy and are on the list for the 2014 hard copy.
Having identified the intelligence that is vital to your business it is then just as important to differentiate between facts and opinion and the source of the opinion being given. With the industry still so dependent on subsidies, information coming from Brussels is a perfect example of the importance of whose opinion you listen to to predict what and when the CAP reform will be. With Brussels there is the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament, the MEPs, Commissioners and then the Council. The Agriculture Commissioner’s Cabinet now says that the new CAP will not come in until the 1st January 2015 but has not ruled out coming in a year earlier if there were the political will. 2014, 2015 or now mention of 2016! We are told not much will happen until the EU wide budget is agreed and this is all set against the background of the Euro crisis. Everyone has an opinion and of course opinions do not cost anything. There are now so many experts and firms with dedicated research departments; it is tempting to miss the more balanced view, which can be so vital, from people operating across a broad spectrum giving practical common sense and professional advice. As we have seen with so many subsidy systems they are like a “honey fungus” having implications throughout the farming business which not only need the right opinions to interpret the intelligence but also the breadth of experience to ensure their success.