News

Natural England has declared Bolton Fell and Walton Mosses as a new National Nature Reserve in Cumbria. Located near Carlisle, Natural England's press release confirms that the new reserve encompasses the recently restored Bolton Fell Moss Site of Special Sceintific Interest (SSSI) and the pristine condition Walton Fell Moss SSSI. Further information can be found on GOV.UK.

Many members will make use of the RICS/RAU Rural Market Survey, which is the longest running independent survey of land transactions in the rural market. The survey is produced half yearly and the survey team, which is led by Nick Millard at the RAU, is collecting data for the first 6 months of 2019 now for publication at the end of July. The survey is in two parts: - the list of transactions, which is of particular interest to practitioners; and - the opinion survey which, conversely, is of...

DEFRA has announced today that Environmental Stewardship (ES) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement holders who have not as yet received a full payment for 2015-2018 annual revenue claims should receive a Treasury-funded payment in July whilst the RPA continues to process these annual revenue claims. This payment should be for 100% of the estimated claim value held on the RPA's IT system at the point in time the payment is made. Emails and letters from the RPA should start going out this...

Please note that this website is being updated on Wednesday, 19th June 2019, and you may encounter some minor interference whilst navigating the site. We thank you for your patience and trust you will not encounter too much inconvenience.

DEFRA has announced that three new general licences will be available from Friday 14th June. The new licences will allow users to control certain species of wild birds in order to: conserve wild birds and flora or fauna (WML GL34) preserve public health or public safety (WML GL35) prevent serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries or inland waters (WML GL36) Further detail is available on the GOV.UK website....

The Prime Minister, Theresa May, has announced that the UK will work towards a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Legislation has been laid today to set this target in law. For further information, please see DEFRA's blog on GOV.UK.

The Environment Agency has warned landowners to be aware that criminal gangs may seek to use land or buildings to store baled waste temporarily but then abandon the site, leaving the landowner facing the clean-up costs. The EA has given the following advice for landlords and landowners: Carry out rigorous checks on prospective new tenants. Land and property owners have a responsibility to ensure anyone leasing their land/premises complies with regulations, so it is essential that you...

The Scottish Rural Payments and Services website will be unavailble from midnight on Friday 31st May to midnight on Sunday 2nd June to allow for routine maintenance.

The Ecosystems Knowledge Network is offering a Natural Capital Management Training Course for rural land owners, estate managers and their advisers. The course is to be held on 3rd July 2019 at Throws Farm Conference Centre, Essex, CM6 3AQ on 25th September 2019 at Lilleshall National Sports & Conference Centre, Shropshire, TF10 9AT The cost is £275 and CAAV members are entitled to a 20% discount. Further details are available on the EKN website....

NEW UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT COURSE RURAL ROUTE FOR CHARTERED SURVEYOR DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP A second degree apprenticeship course giving entry to the rural profession is starting this autumn at the University College of Estate Management (UCEM) at Reading. With the course at Harper Adams now entering its second year, the UCEM course, developed in conjunction with professional practices: leads to a Real Estate degree, not a specifically rural one but with a rural...

DEFRA has announced a new Urban Tree Challenge Fund which will see £10 million funding made available to encourage the planting of more than 130,000 trees in "green urban areas" across England's towns and cities over the next two years. The fund will open for applications this week and will require match funding from successful applicants. Further information can be found on GOV.UK....

DEFRA has published the first progress report for the 25 Year Environment Plan which was launched in January 2018. The progress report shows that up to March 2019, 90% of the plan's actions have been delivered or are being progressed. Further details can be found in the press release on GOV.UK.

A new farmer-led initiative to drive low-carbon, environmentally sustainable farming practices in Scotland has been launched as part of the Farming for a Better Climate (FFBC) programme. Further information is available on the Scottish Government website.

With just over one week until 15 May deadline for BPS 2019 claims, the CAAV's Alice De Soer gives essential tips about applying in England in the attached Farmers Weekly article.

The House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy has published a report calling on the Government to develop a rural strategy for England and help realise the potential of rural economies. The report "Time for a Strategy for the Rural Economy" can be downloaded from the Parliament website.

Press release 17th April 2019 A new threat to rural housing? Finding affordable rural housing is likely to be more difficult under new Government proposals to change the law on residential tenancies in England, warns the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV). For almost 40 years, houses have been let with the confidence that, once any agreed term has expired, the house can stay let and the owner can recover possession when needed with only two months’ notice. It doesn’t...

Prime Minister Theresa May has issued a press statement following yesterday's EU Council meeting regarding the request to extend the Article 50 process beyond 29th March 2019. The EU Council has agreed that, subject to a successful vote on the Withdrawal Agreement by the UK Parliament next week, Brexit will be extended to 22nd May 2019. If however the vote is unsuccessful, the EU Council will allow Article 50 to be extended to 12th April 2019. At that point, the UK would either leave the EU...

The Scottish Single Application Form (SAF) window has opened today. Further information about applying online can be found on the Rural Payments and Services website. The application submission deadline is 15th May 2019.

MPs have voted (412 to 202) to seek a delay to Brexit happening on 29th March 2019. This has to be agreed to by the other 27 EU Member States. Please see the BBC News webpage for further information.

George Eustice MP has resigned from his post as DEFRA Farming Minister after this week's decision to allow the postponement of the UK's exit from the EU if the current deal is rejected. Please see the BBC News website for further information.

CAAV adviser, Alice De Soer, joined an expert panel on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today programme at the weekend to discuss 'Five weeks until Brexit'. The programme covered trade, labour and farming subsidy issues. To listen, please go to the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today webpage (Alice's contribution relating to farming subsidies starts at around 14 minutes).

New Natural Capital Accounts research published by Natural England today shows that National Nature Reserves (NNRs) provide £36 million of benefits to society. The report includes an extended balance sheet which gives an evaluation of "NNRs as natural assets, as well as demonstrating the ecosystem services, benefits and value they provide to society." Further details are available on the GOV.UK website where there is also a link to the report....

Key elements of the Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme have opened for applications today (18th February). They include:- Higher Tier; Mid Tier; the 4 Wildlife Offers; and the Hedgerows and Boundaries Capital Grant Application packs for Mid Tier can be requested online via the Rural Payments service by 31st May 2019. Higher Tier application packs must be requested by 31st March 2019 by phoning the RPA (03000 200 301). The 4 Wildlife Offers and the Hedgerows and Boundaries Capital...

Scotland's Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, has confirmed that nationally-funded loans of up to 90% of Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) 2018 payment values are to be made available to eligible claimants, with payments starting April 2019. Loan offer letters should start to be sent from 1st March. Further information is available on the Scottish Government website....

The Institute of Agricultural Management's National Farm Management Conference 2019 will take place in London on 13th February 2019. Fellows of the CAAV are offered the IAgrM member rate to attend - a saving of £60. Simply complete the booking form as if you are an IAgrM member. Details and a booking form are available on the IAgrM website at https://www.iagrm.org.uk/events/ The conference attracts BASIS and NRoSO points....

The RPA has confirmed that 93.4% of BPS 2018 claimants received a payment by 31st December 2018. This equates to 78,787 claimants with a value of over £1.57 billion. Further information is available on GOV.UK.

Scotland's Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, has announced two initiatives to streamline the foresty grants process during a debate today in the Scottish Parliament on Future Rural Policy and Support in Scotland. The initiatives are:- 1) to review the current process for forestry grant applications; and 2) to review the Forestry Grant Scheme to allow more "small landowners" to access financial support for tree planting and woodland creation. Further information is available on the...

The Welsh Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, has announced that £5m of Rural Development Programme funding is to be made available to help eradicate sheep scab in Wales. A news release is available on the Welsh Government website.

The Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, has delivered a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference 2019. The full text of the speech is available on GOV.UK.