News

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 9th September 2021. The fascinating politics of the last few days reveal serious conundrums as the government navigates between its existing voters wanting protection and the needs of its potential voters.While little may have been done to reform or even fund social care, the threat of crippling care costs to existing homeowners and their heirs appears reduced. It is now reported that their concerns see teeth drawn from the...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 9th September 2021. The fledgling world of transactions for environmental commitments is very young and potentially very innocent. It may match the early days for solar panels after Feed-in Tariffs were introduced in spring 2010 when initial activity moved faster than understanding or clearer perspective on value, opportunity and risk. We see a shifting balance from agreements for running payments for actions (common in...

It has been announced that the deadline for submitting claims for the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grants Scheme has been extended until 31 December 2021. See the Scottish Government website for more details.

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 26th August 2021 From the start of the pandemic, the Government’s concern has been to maintain contracts and activity in the economy. It has done so with measures such as the furlough scheme protecting employment contracts and grants and loans to tide businesses through. The resilience of the food supply chain passed its test last spring. As lockdown has eased, so the economy regained ground and unemployment stayed low....

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 26th August 2021 All parts of the UK are now shaping future agricultural policy. This week’s consultation paper from Scotland and policy framework from Northern Ireland follow England’s implementation of change and the Welsh Government’s confirmation of next year’s Agriculture Bill.Policies for climate change and biodiversity have increasing priority alongside wider environmental concerns and business performance. The...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 19th August 2021 The old saying is that a farmer only controls what is under his boot. Weather, governments, markets and all are external, to be taken as they come. Looking to what can be controlled is particularly important at such a time of change. The problem is less uncertainty than perspective, seeing where value, reward and risk really lie. Too great a focus on the changing landscape of schemes draws the eye and mind...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 12th August 2021 The CAAV has now published new editions of the model FBTs for England: one for largely bare land agreements for two years or less, the other for longer agreements and more fully equipped land – weblinks given below. New editions for Wales were issued earlier in the year. Revisions last year responded to Brexit; these pick up on the new policies under the Agriculture Act and the Environment Bill. They are...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th July 2021 Understanding risks is a key part of making a market work. A buyer wants to know exactly what is being bought; the seller wants to contain the risks in that. Market pressures, contract law, consumer protection and other interventions seek to help with means, like the Land Registry, to authenticate major assets. Environmental agreements, including biodiversity gain, have risks as much as any other transaction....

Clay tablets can last longer than parchment, papyrus and paper, keeping records of contracts, debts and now of the sale of part of a field in central Iraq four millennia ago. Dr Daniel Mansfield of the University of New South Wales has shown that, with the legal details, the Old Babylonian tablet Si.427 records the right angled triangles used to measure the areas and give more exact rectangles than in earlier tablet to get the boundaries right, towards 1900BC and over a thousand years before...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 29th July 2021. The further easing of pandemic restrictions enabled by widespread vaccination and past infections opens up thoughts of how the personal and social side of professional life, business and fellowship might resume. We are looking at what the new balance might be that, across the range of ways we work, combines efficient professional support and the social interaction of a wider life. While judging risk, there is...

This article by Jeremy Moody first appeared in the CAAV e-Briefing of 22nd July 2021. The Government in London is clearing desks before Parliament goes into Recess tonight. Tuesday saw statements on planning policy for housing in England, one of the most significant controversies for the coming months. The bones of the policy set out in August 2020’s White Paper are for: 300,000 houses a year, allocated where house price/local earnings ratios show demand councils to identify growth...