Finance

In times of high volatility in the finance market, Mark Ashbridge of finance solutions firm Ashbridge Partners believes there are still opportunities to be had for farmers wishing to expand their business, and even suggested that raising debt in an inflationary environment can be, on the long term, really quite productive.

With biodiversity net gain (BNG) and woodland carbon units (WCU) utilised by more and more farm businesses to generate additional income, Gavin Birchall, tax advisory partner at Scrutton Bland, shared expert advice on the various tax implications of green farming in 2023.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) confirmed it has achieved the target of reducing operational costs by £7.8m by the end of the 2022/23 tax year, saving a total of £8.5m in a bid to offer better value for levy payers.

Rural land and property specialists GSC Grays believe some farms could be better off under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme and urged farmers to consider transitioning to a regenerative farming system.

Nearly three-quarters of off-gas grid rural homeowners are expected to fall into fuel poverty as a result of the government’s proposed 2026 fossil fuel boiler ban, with 69% of households unable to afford a replacement electric heating system, new rural polling data has shown.

The farming industry has welcomed extensions on the Energy Price Guarantee and fuel duty freeze in Chancellor Hunt’s spring budget announcement on 15th March, while the lack of action on frozen tax thresholds and green incentives has been labelled a ‘missed opportunity’.

As the year end approaches, Anne Cianchi, product manager at Farmplan, the UK’s leading agricultural software specialists, shares some timely advice on how farmers can manage their money in uncertain times.

In the run up to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s spring budget announcement on 15th March, rural finance specialists urged the government to maintain green incentives for farming and thaw frozen tax thresholds to ease the strain of cost-of-living price hikes.

Following a long period of recession, the figures are finally looking up for British free range egg producers, according to ADAS costings for March 2023, presented at this year’s BFREPA Roadshows. Farmers Guide staff writer Henrietta Szathmary attended the meeting in Wales on 2nd March to report on the discussion.

The end of the tax year is not far away and there is still the opportunity for rural businesses to make best use of 2022/23 tax allowances and to be in the best position for the start of the next tax year. The Land and Rural Practice Group at Saffery Champness has produced these top five seasonal tax planning tips for farmers and rural businesses.

At Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC) 2023, policy campaigners from The Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) and the Irish equivalent body Talamh Beo provided an update on what small farmers can expect from future subsidy payments across the four UK nations.

The grants will be made available through the Farming Innovation Programme (FIP) and Farming Investment Fund (FIF) – which will sit alongside the ELM scheme.