News - Townsend Chartered Surveyors

For over 38 years, Hugh Townsend has been the country's "go-to" commentator on farm quotas and intangible assets sold off-farm. 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.In 2016, BBC1 interviewed Hugh Townsend on the future of farming following the Referendum, click here. In 2021 he published the first book of its type “the UK Environmental Credits User Guide” , and more recently in 2024 ITV filmed at one of our BNG Habitat Banks which was broadcast on Monday 3rd June (click here) To view the uncut footage of the interview click here

Hugh Townsend developed the most creative arrangements to promote an efficient market in farm quotas, in the early eighties, including leasing milk quota without land, before the Milk Marketing Board introduced leasing for a part of the milk year. He has represented clients in leading court and arbitration cases successfully defending transfers of milk quota, and developed the new system of second TQ1 forms protecting the transfer of quotas with land.

In 1991, Farmers Weekly published the first sale price index from Hugh Townsend, countrywide, and started to publish farm quota sales and leasing graphs, which can be seen on our Milk Quota & Entitlements pages. Prices for intangible assets are still published weekly from this UK leading Brokerage House.

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

In 1990, the firm held the first auction of sheep and beef quota making the market in these new intangible assets and is still the leading BPS entitlement broker in the UK regions following England abolishing their scheme in 2023.

The firm also now sells Biodiversity Net Gain and Nutrient Neutrality units, Woodland and Peatland Carbon, in addition to Water Abstraction Licenses, and holds National Sales by tender every six weeks.

27.10.21 – Western Morning News – Carbon Emissions Markets – Return of Quotas?

We have no doubt that there are all sorts of interesting nuggets of policy communication buried within the Government’s latest Net Zero Strategy document. Agriculture certainly has its fair share, from making explicit the intention to extend environmental permits to dairy and “intensive” beef farms, to an apparent drive for us all to grow more…

29.09.21 – Western Morning News – The Future of Farm Policy

Those of you who watched “Clarkson’s Farm” might remember how in the final episode he made just £144 of profit, “before subsidies,”. This is a familiar story. Subsidies are important to farmers across the country. They are also changing quickly. This will dramatically affect how farming is carried out in the South West and beyond….

8.9.2021 – Western Morning News – Huge potential for soil carbon trading

The introduction of the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs) and its ‘public money for public goods’ mantra, will reward land managers for taking environmentally beneficial actions including sequestering carbon through soil management. This creates an opportunity for the sequestered carbon to be sold on the open market. At present the soil carbon market is not fully developed with a lack of standardisation in the measure-ment of volumes and permanence of carbon sequestered. It can…

11.8.2021 – Western Morning News – Increasingly attractive SFI option

DEFRA have confirmed that those providing public benefits under an SFI will be able to sell their environmental goods to both government sources and on the open market where companies look to offset their footprint. To this end DEFRA intend to develop and promote private markets for these services. Whilst light on details, it is…

6.7.2021 – SUSTAINABLE FARMING INCENTIVE 2022 – UPDATE

SFI 2022 open to those in existing Countryside Stewardship. Environmental goods produced under an SFI can be sold in the open market. DEFRA have confirmed that those providing public benefits under an SFI will be able to sell their environmental goods to both government sources and on the open market where companies look to offset…

1.7.2021 SUSTAINABLE FARMING INCENTIVE: 2022 EARLY ROLLOUT

Available Spring 2022. Open to all farmers eligible for BPS. Two standards to choose from: Arable and Horticultural Soils Standard and Improved Grassland Soils Standard (payments of between £26 and £70 per hectare (estimated) and Moorland and Rough Grazing Standard (Payment rate to be confirmed). Annual Health and Welfare Review. Funds a yearly vet visit (£269-£775). More…

2.6.2021 – Western Morning News – Now’s the time to plant trees as Government boosts incentives

The Forestry Commission have recently announced a range of new grants aimed at encouraging Woodland Creation. English Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) This scheme is set to replace the Woodland Carbon Fund (WCF), which was closed to new applicants on the 31st March this year. Both schemes fund the capital cost of planting new woodlands, plus…

30.6.2021 – THE SUSTAINABLE FARMING INCENTIVE

The Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, long-awaited successor to the Basic Payment Scheme will at first take the form of three new schemes. These are the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. Of these, the SFI is intended to be the most applicable to the majority of farmers. The Sustainable Farming…

26.5.2021 – Western Morning News – Devil in the detail as plans for retirement payments unveiled

On the 19th May the Government gave more detail of what we have been calling the “exit support scheme”. This will provide a lump sum payment to farmers meeting a set of criteria which the Government considers to constitute retirement from farming. Details of “delinked” payments after 2024 have also been given. This information is…