TFA National Chairman 2018 AGM report highlights

Speaking at this week's Tenant Farmers Association AGM in London, James Gray, the TFA's National Chairman stressed the importance of the Government seeing the bigger picture when developing post Brexit agricultural policy and how the TFA has sought to ensure that the voice of the tenanted sector and the active farmers it serves, has been heard at the highest levels of Government.

He highlighted that the TFA has encouraged landlords and tenants to use the pre-Brexit period for productive discussions about how both parties intend to deal with the opportunities and challenges which lie ahead. He also went on to say, "With so much uncertainty the TFA is encouraging members to ensure that they are in a position to have a rent review available in either the autumn of next year or the spring of the following year when there should know more about the future of our relationship with the EU and the policy environment within which we will be operating." To read the full AGM speech click here.

Email addresses from Government departments are changing

Members who are subscribed to updates from GOV.uk pages and blogs should have received an email stating that as of Thursday 8th March, these notifications will come from a different email address. Some members have expressed concern that the notification is fake or malicious but this is not the case. The Government is making changes to the updates service and in future they will come from a different email address and have a different subject line. The new address for updates will be gov.uk.email@notifications.service.gov.uk , and for blog subscriptions the email address will be gov.uk.blogs@notifications.service.gov.uk for blog subscriptions.

Have you checked your RPA maps in England?

To avoid EU fines being levelled against the British Government, the RPA has to ensure that its mapping data, used to administer the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), is no more than three years old in each claim year. To achieve this, it has been carrying out what it calls Proactive Land Change Detection (PLCD) which involves uploading into its database information from latest Ordnance Survey maps or from remote sensing. This work will be ongoing. All members who claim BPS in England are advised to check their online maps for any land changes that have been made by going to the "view land" screen on Rural Payments Online. If you believe that any updates that have been made are wrong, the only way to correct this is to submit an RLE1 form marked on the front with "unrequested change query" and sent with sketch maps making clear what needs to be changed and why. Many of the changes that have been made are minor and will not impact on the value of claims going forward. Therefore, a common sense approach does need to be taken to ensure that only those claim impacting changes are referred back to the RPA using an RLE1.

TFA introduces new Farm Policy Adviser

We are pleased to announce that Lynette Steel will be joining the TFA Head Office team during April in a new role as Farm Policy Adviser. Lynette, who farms with her husband on a tenanted holding in Hampshire, has previously worked for Holstein UK and more recently with an agricultural merchant. She will be dealing day-to-day with members’ queries on the Basic Payment Scheme, Environmental Stewardship and other agricultural schemes and grants and working on post Brexit agricultural policy issues in England and Wales.

Still having problems with Castle Water?

Thank you to all those members who got in touch following the article in our e-newsletter on 26th February relating to ongoing issues with the handover from Thames Water to Castle Water.

We have heard from a number of members encountering a variety of problems as a result of the handover. We are now taking these forward with the water companies concerned, but if any members have further queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing tfa@tfa.org.uk.

Also, we would be interested to hear from you if you have managed to negotiate a reasonable way forward with the company, again email us at tfa@tfa.org.uk.

Final Call! - Make the most out of your farm tenancy

The TFA Northern area is hosting it's final discussion group on the topic "Make the most out of your farm tenancy - rent, succession and business progression" at Malton and Norton RUFC, North Yorkshire on the 20 March starting 7:30pm.

Kindly sponsored by HSBC, our guest speakers for the evening will be Jonathan Wallis (Chartered Surveyor) and Gordon Whitford (HSBC).

This event is FREE and open to both members and non-members. For more details including how to reserve your seat at this event, please click here, email events@tfa.org.uk or call 0118 930 6130.

TFA Updates

Weekly Uploaded Documents

The following articles and documents have been uploaded to the TFA’s website since the publication of the last TFA e-newsletter or e-Bites.

Media Releases

TFA Media Release MR18/11 - GOVERNMENT MUST NOT TAKE A PIECEMEAL APPROACH TO FUTURE FARM POLICY

TFA Media Release MR18/12 -TFA National Chairman 2018 AGM Speech - in full

Case Law Updates

Kenneth Peter Sowden v Stephen Charles Smyth-Tyrrell, Beaujolois KatharineSmyth-Tyrrell

Tenancy Opportunities

Please note: Members will need to log into their TFA account before they can access details.

156 Acre Livestock Farm, St Blazey, Cornwall

650 acre mixed farm in central France

38 Acres of arable land to let in Shevington, Wigan

512 Acre Livestock Farm in East Sussex

425 acres of Arable and Stock Farm to be let in West Norfolk

43-acre starter stockrearing unit from Powys County Council

TFA Members Benefits

TFA’s only approved finance partner.

The TFA and bira bank are working in partnership to provide lending and savings for both your business and personal needs. This facility is open to TFA members who have been a member for six months or more.

Lending:

Rates - competitive fixed rates which will remain unaltered for the duration of the loan, regardless of whether rates rise or fall during the lifetime of the agreement. For current rates offered by bira click here.

Loans - normally an advance of up to 80% of the total cost including VAT is available. All of their loans feature no admin or early redemption charges.

All items of a capital nature or connected with the business i.e. cars, vans, trucks, tractors, farm equipment, computers, machinery, point of sale equipment, alarm and security systems, new shop-fittings and showrooms etc. can be financed.

Repayment - must be made using a standing order arrangement and should not be less than £20 per month. The maximum repayment period is 60 months but computers must be repaid within 48 months.

Insurance - please note that comprehensive insurance of all items covered by the loan agreement is the responsibility of the member.

Savings:

A range of saving accounts from regular savers to deposit accounts and ISA’s. To see their full range, visit the savings section of their website.

Further information - please contact David Pears or Frank Burton at bira bank, quoting TFA as a reference, on telephone number 0121 446 6688 or email: info@birabank.co.uk. Further information can be obtained from the bira bank website: www.birabank.co.uk

The TFA receives a small commission every time a member enters into a new scheme. This commission helps the TFA to maintain lower membership rates for its members.

*Please note that a copy of your latest accounts may be required for credit assessment purposes particularly if you are using the facility for the first time.

And Finally...

TFA members can save 35% when they subscribe to the Farmers Weekly.

Call 0330 333 9694 and quote 3799 or go online here.

Pay just £112* for a years subscription, instead of the normal £178.50 (saving £66.50).

*Price quoted is for the printed version of the magazine to be delivered to your door. Other subscriptions for Tablet only and Print and Tablet are also available, all are subject to VAT.