cambridgeshire.gov.uk/estates

rural viewsNewsletter for tenants of Cambridgeshire County Farms Estate • Issue 32 • Spring 2020

The farm available was Herods Farm, Foxton. A viewing day was held on Wednesday 12 February.

We received a total of 5 applications for the holding and we are currently in the

process of making selections for the second interviews.

Following the passing of a tenant, and the decision by his executors to surrender the tenancy in October 2020, we shall shortly be offering Bedfords Barn and Crowtree Farm to let from 11th October 2020. The holding comprises about 160 ha (400 ac) with a 4 bedroom house, 5 sets of buildings and a reservoir benefitting from summer and winter water abstraction licences. We are waiting for the last few years cropping details and other minor matters before the letting details can be sent out and advertisements arranged.

If you are interested please email Kit at Christopher.Helps@ cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

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County Farms Holdings are in demand Only one holding was advertised nationally in January after being advertised to existing tenants in the Christmas Newsletter. Maintenance emergencies

Due to the fast pace and ever changing situation with the coronavirus there may be a period of time where we are uncontactable if any maintenance related emergencies should occur please do not hesitate to take action, let us know and we will reimburse the cost where it is our responsibility.

Rent Payment – if you think you will be late Do not forget that it is vital you give us as much notice as possible if you are going to be late paying your rent. Telling us early means we have a greater chance of stopping the Direct Debit, avoiding expensive costs all round. Please do not cancel your Direct Debit as it causes a great deal of time consuming and expensive problems for us.

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Postponed Tenants Meetings With the onset of COVID19 and its curtailment of social as well as

business activities, it is not planned to have Tenants Meetings in the near future. However, we recognise that these meetings

give an ideal opportunity to discuss the industry, our performance and the future of farming. We will conduct

future meetings and will inform you as and when we are able to organise future events.

Welcome Jack! Jack Kennedy is our new Interim Estate Manager. Jack joined the Rural Estate team in Mid‐February having come from managing a large private family trust with farms, agri‐business and commercial assets across the UK from the Scottish Highlands to SW England.

Coming from a multi‐facet rural investment group with ‘dirty‐hands‐on’ experience of farm management, coupled with the development and on‐going management of energy crop and biogas production, together with other agri‐diversification projects he looks forward to working with the rural estate, its tenants and various stakeholders.

Goodbye to Kate Kate left us at the end of March after nearly 3 years with the Council, she is leaving to work for Savills in Cambridge.

During her time on the estate Kate has completed several new barn builds, many house refurbishments and extensions, many re‐lettings as well as all the general patch officer work on her part of the estate. She has tackled everything thrown her way in a professional and conscientious manner.

She will be greatly missed for her diligence and good humour. We wish her all the best for the future!

Press Releases We are keen to hear about any success or interesting stories you may have for our Facebook page and newsletters. If you have an interesting story and are happy for it to be shared, please let Kit Helps know.

Find us on Facebook To keep up to date with the latest news, events and farms to let search ‘Cambridgeshire County Farms’ on Facebook and send a request to join the group.

The StorkCongratulations to our Tenants at Plantation Farm Alwyn and Rachel Sweeney on the birth of their second child, Imogen Ann on 17th October 2019.

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Tenancy Workshop 15 Jan 2020 We held a Tenancy Day in Ely in conjunction with Suffolk County Council Farms. The morning session was for Tenants in their first 5 years on the Estate looking towards a tenancy renewal. The morning was well attended by CCC tenants and featured speakers from the AHDB, Barclays Bank, FWAG, the NFU, East of England Agricultural Society and a Care Farmer. Thank you to all our speakers and attendees, we hope you found it interesting and some food for thought.

The afternoon sessions was aimed at those wishing to apply for a holding wether on Cambridgeshire or Suffolk’ Rural Estate. It was well attended by 17 Prospective tenants. We went through the application process, the applications forms and the budgets required. We hope it was a useful exercise and helps applicants focus to make the applications the best they can be. Again thank you to everyone that attended.

Policies update On the 21st February a report was presented to the Commercial & Investment Committee outlining the aims and objectives of the Rural Estate. The Estate will be managed to optimise the income in order to produce a target return of 4%. This is a demanding target for the sector and will need the best efforts of all of us to secure a prosperous business future.

Both disposals and acquisitions will be considered to benefit the good management of the Estate. The Estate will continue to develop and assist with tenant led farm diversification development projects which will be accompanied by a

robust business plan to maximise returns to tenants, the Estate and its stakeholders.

All new tenants will be offered a five year Farm Business Tenancy (FBT) and where possible, if successful in their operation they will be offered a further up to fifteen year FBT agreement thereafter.

Those farming on an Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (AHA) at retirement age will be offered a further three years where this does not impact on the Estate’s boarder strategy.

The cornerstones of the CCC Estate remain in place to develop, assist and grow the farm businesses of the new entrants into the industry and to give support those already farming with the inevitable challenges facing the agricultural sector over the coming years as Government support changes to an environmental land management strategy.

Health and Safety Executive Inspectors – Focus on Farms The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recently told farmers to get their health and safety standards up to scratch, as they continue to carry out inspections of farms during 2020.

Maintenance on the Estate As in previous years, we are continuing with the 5 year rolling programme of maintenance, despite increased pressure on budgets. For properties due this year, inspections for any maintenance required are underway. Electrical installations will be checked by Data Facilities and roller shutter barn doors will be serviced by Security Gates & Doors.

Land Underdrainage 2 year contract – Please note DMJ Drainage Ltd have won the current contract. The contract runs to April 2021.

Even if it is not your year to have the 5 year check, general maintenance requests can be considered at any time.

If you have maintenance requests please contact Sarah Goodier on (01223) 699095.

HSE Inspectors have similar powers to Police Officers, such as the right to interview workers, and the power to take evidence from your farm. They can take enforcement action, which could include making you stop work until safety issues are fixed. They can also prosecute farms and/or individual people who aren’t following safety law.

The HSE doesn’t want to stop you running your farm, but they want your farm to be safe. They have guidance to help you to keep yourself safe, as well as your workers, visitors, members of the public and any

other people who might be affected by your work. Their website has lots of resources to help you. See: www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/ topics/safety‐topics.htm

This year, the HSE says their Inspectors “will be looking at how farms managing machinery and transport risks, as well as reminding farmers of their duty to protect themselves, their workers and members of the public from the risks caused by cattle”. The HSE website (linked above) has information on all these topics, and lots more.

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Oilseed rape was established at the end of August/ early September. Unfortunately, the lack of (September) rain, coupled with lots of flea beetle damage means that at time of writing the crop is looking more backward than hoped. There are enough plants, but we will be relying on the branches producing pods for yield. Pigeons have caused some damage, however the bigger issue seems to be that I now host a flock of 200 swans that have made their home on the oilseed rape crop, so moving these on is part of the morning dog walk routine.

This season I have tried various establishment methods to see what works best. Winter barley was sown across strips of min tilled land and was also direct drilled into stubble. So far the min tilled strips look slightly better, although there is actually very little in it. The oilseed rape was strip tilled on 45cm row widths, an establishment method I normally prefer as it helps with rooting and doesn’t disturb the soil much, although this year any establishment method before 15th August would have been better. Due to the persistent wet weather, the winter and spring wheat has been ploughed and drilled and this is the best method of establishment so far in a difficult year.

We applied for FarmINN funding through Rothamsted Research to establish a trial looking at variety mixing with modern cultivars, following reduced intensity fungicide programmes. In other countries mixing cultivars is known to produce higher yields than growing the cultivars individually so it will be

interesting to see how current UK varieties perform, as well as see any potentially benefits from improved weed and disease control.

Through my part time role at ADAS I was invited in December to present on fungicide efficacy to 250 farmers in the Ukraine. This was an extremely interesting experience, although they didn’t seem particularly impressed with my farm as apparently anything less than 4000 acres was classed as a hobby farm!

In the New Year I had the opportunity to see what agriculture is like in Northern California when I visited Russell Ranch Agricultural Research Centre. This was really interesting and well worth a visit. Tomatoes, almonds and fruit trees were the most common crops grown in that part of California, with wheat grown mainly as a break crop. Water availability is a huge issue, not helped by almonds being a popular crop which require 12 litres of water to produce just one almond so there was ongoing research looking at increasing cropping sustainability. Something of interest is a variety of perennial wheat, Kernza®, they have been trialling and are starting to grow on a small scale. Clearly there are significant environmental benefits and costs savings from growing perennial wheat, but unfortunately it yields between 0.4‐1.0t/ha so perhaps not economical over here just yet!

My partner and I moved in to Somerset Farm house and are settling in really well. It is a fantastic holding and we look forward to farming the land going forward.

New tenant, new beginnings… Tim Boor Somerset Farm, Goosetree

I took on Somerset farm in October 2019. I was fortunate enough to meet with the outgoing tenant several times who gave me great advice about the soil types across the holding. The Council also kindly soil sampled the farm so nutrient deficient areas have already been identified.

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The application form has slimmed down and arrives usually within a few minutes when ordered online, much less evidence is required on application, and there is a simplified option which gives you guaranteed entry, rather than being competitive. As of this year, if an inspection shows that you have over‐claimed on an option, no penalties will be applied (although re‐payment will be required).

Nonetheless, there are still aspects of the scheme which are unclear. Countryside Stewardship (CS) is a set of different schemes: Mid Tier is the place to go for most farms: there are many annual options and capital items to choose from, and it is competitive (although low application numbers have meant that it has not been competitive so far). However, even Mid Tier consists of several different parts: there is the “core” Mid Tier, which if you are in a priority area for water quality includes water capital items, or you can apply for just the water capital items in a two‐year stand‐alone grant. Also part of Mid Tier are the “Wildlife Offers”, which are non‐competitive packages (Arable, Mixed Farming and Lowland Grazing – and Upland in other areas of the country) with limited annual options and no capital items. Higher Tier is much more focussed than Higher Level Stewardship was, with farms which have specific habitats and features to maintain, create or restore being accepted into the scheme. Woodland management is part of Higher Tier (either as part of a larger application, or as a stand‐alone scheme). Other woodland grants – Woodland Management Plan, Woodland Creation Grant, Woodland Tree Health Grant – are separate and open all year for application. The Hedgerow & Boundary Grant caters for hedgerow restoration

(coppicing, laying, gapping up) and work on stone walls, and can be used in conjunction with HLS or the Wildlife Offers. Finally, the Facilitation Fund is also part of CS: enabling groups of farmers to appoint a facilitator to organise training and events to help them address their chosen issues at landscape scale.

This is now a flexible scheme which has something appropriate for most farms. However, some farmers are still holding off applying, even though they have options on the ground left over from their ELS, because of uncertainty of what is to come. The new Environmental Land Management System (ELMS), which is due to replace both BPS and CS, will not open until 2024. In the meantime, from 2021 to 2027 BPS will be gradually reducing. CS therefore represents an important way to boost farm income during this period. Since ELMS is likely to be a “payment by results” system, CS also give farmers the opportunity to try out environmental management and learn how to get the best results from options like winter bird food and nectar flower mix, which are likely to remain important parts of the scheme. Defra have undertaken to ensure that existing agreement holders are not disadvantaged when new schemes open, and the 2020 Countryside Stewardship manual states that it will be possible to move into ELMS before any current CS expires.

Mid Tier and the Wildlife Offers are open until the end of July, and Higher Tier until the end of May, so if you haven’t so far, take the plunge and make an application this year.

For more information contact elizabeth.ranelagh@fwageast.org.uk

Countryside Stewardship Elizabeth Ranelagh, FWAG East

As Countryside Stewardship enters its sixth year of applications, it is a very different scheme from the one we first met in 2015.

SDLT A reminder to all who will be signing new agreements. If you are not using an agent or solicitor you need to obtain the paper forms for submitting your SDLT notification from the gov.uk site, where there is also a very useful calculator to work out any sum due. The return must be submitted within 14 days to avoid a penalty, so get the form and advice before the final signing.

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Please outline your journey on the estate so far:

I applied for 4 different farms over the course of 3 years, before I was awarded this one. I started the tenancy in October 2014. The first year was definitely eye opening, it felt like being thrown in at the deep end! Thank fully I had plenty of people around to help out and keep me on track. As the years go by I’ve become more organised and knowing what to expect. The house was renovated within the first few months and that made a huge difference having a nice home to come back to. The cropping has slowly grown, 230 ac to start, then 100ac after year 3 and a final 40ac after year 4. I’m up to circa 390ac in total now. It’s all in one big block and makes my life much easier and really helps with security. I’m now on the first year of my 15 year tenancy‐ coming up to my 6th harvest. There’s now enough acres for a decent rotation and including the potatoes. I’ve got enough land to make it worthwhile doing these investments into kit. The years fly by but it’s been really enjoyable on the whole.

What made you want to become a Tenant on the Estate, and Morleys Farm in particular?

In respect of becoming a tenant, I’ve famed all my life, quite nearby. I worked away at Greens in Soham, then after 18 months of being back at home, shall we say we had a few differences of opinion and it was time to do my own thing. Cambridgeshire Council Council (CCC) gave me a great opportunity to do just that. I knew the previous tenant so I was aware that Morleys was good land in a single block, with a nice house and buildings. The land is suitable for the root crops and onions that I wanted to grow. It’s also not too far from everyone I know and a suitable distance to borrow machinery or draft in some help where required.

What has your time at Morleys Farm been like so far and has it been all that you expected?

Very enjoyable and worthwhile doing. I’ve got a real sense of satisfaction from doing everything myself. At the end of the year

looking in the shed and seeing a good heap of wheat or similar is a great feeling‐ even better when the cheque then lands on the doorstep! It’s been a lovely place to live which is always a bonus.

There’s always something unexpected‐ something breaks, a costs you haven’t factored. This year’s weather this year has probably been the biggest obstacle so far. The weather is becoming less predictable and much more of a challenge. I just try to keep one step ahead and so when the weather breaks I can push on and get things done.

What advice would you give to those starting out on the estate?

To be sure you want to do it. Knows your figures inside and out. A lot of people just want to farm, don’t forget it’s a business! Admittedly it is a nice life at certain times during the year but you have to earn money out of it. Be sure you’re not walking yourself into something you might regret.

What are your longer term plans?

I’m aware that there is no further land to come with the holding so it’s now all about the crops. I want to grow a better, more sustainable crops. I am trying to be more environmentally friendly with direct drilling, low disturbance, treating soils better and improving the drainage. I aim to keep the costs down and to make the business as profitable as possible. For us and CCC and if our business is doing well we can pay the rents which means CCC is doing well and their aims are met.

The future is going to be difficult, particularly this year with the wet winter, BREXIT unknowns and BPS payments tapering down. Potentially entering into a CS agreement could help fil this gap and I’m looking into this to make sure it’s financially viable for the holding. There’s some interesting times ahead for British agriculture and I’m looking forwards to seeing what it holds for me on this holding.

Progressing on the Estate Jonathan Roberts, Morleys Farm

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They currently operate three small sites around the outskirts of Cambridge, but, due to the huge demand, feel the need to widen the scope of their activities and develop improved facilities.

They are hoping to find a site of about ½ hectare ideally within 7 miles of Cambridge to rent on a long lease or purchase outright. Land with a building suitable for redesign and/or refurbishment, even though not currently habitable, will also be of interest to CBKA.

CBKA is seeking to establish a more permanent centre providing the security to grow its activities and services and with the facilities to support these activities to include

• meeting rooms and large lecture theatre;

• a well‐equipped apiary with around 20 colonies of bees in hives of various types of construction to provide both practical training and development;

• a laboratory containing microscopy and other instrumentation to allow for research and identification of diseases of bees;

• storage for beekeeping equipment including loan equipment to assist CBKA members in managing their own bee colonies;

• sufficient parking for attendees on training courses and the many lectures and talks that CBKA provides open to all interested members of the public;

If you think you may be able to help or know someone who may have suitable land, ideally with possible building(s) for refurbishment, please contact Bob Dawkins – bob_dawkins@hotmail.com or via phone 01223 414564, m 07922 421133

Areas for early feeding of Turtle Doves The Council have been approached to see if anyone could help by offering areas for the early season feeding of turtle doves.

These are a migratory bird species that travels to Sub Saharan Africa for the winter. It feeds on cereal and wildflower seeds. The RSPB and local Wildlife Trust have asked us to publicise its plight and ask if anyone can offer sites where volunteers can spread suitable seeds in March/ April to help the birds make an early start to their breeding season and prevent further decline of this threatened species. The species is on the RSPB red list in the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 Report (BoCC4)

See www.operationturtledove.org/wp‐content/uploads /2020/01/OTD‐Guidance‐Helping‐your‐local‐turtle‐doves‐Jan20.pdf for details of how to help

Cambridgeshire beekeepers (CBKA) are an active group around Cambridgeshire offering advice and support to existing beekeepers and advice and training to those wishing to

look after these useful workers.

Site or buildings for Cambridgeshire Beekeepers

Contact us… John MacMillan Group Asset Manager 01223 699092 john.macmillan@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Jack Kennedy Interim Estate Manager 01223 507261 jack.kennedy@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Kit Helps Principal Surveyor (Rural) 01223 724329 christopher.helps@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Sarah Goodier Estates Management Officer (Rural) 01223 699095 sarah.goodier@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

cambridgeshire.gov.uk/estates

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Please apply to join in the competitions below. If the restrictions imposed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic have been relaxed by the beginning of June the judging will go ahead. Otherwise they will have to be postponed for a further year.

The Christopher Burton Memorial Cup will be awarded annually to the best new entrant within their first five years on the Estate. The Competition is open to all tenants (within their first five years) farming an area of 2 ha or more and there is no entry fee.

The Coronation Bowl will be awarded annually to the best managed Holding with the emphasis on general management and enterprise. The Competition is open to all tenants farming an area of 2 ha or more and there is no entry fee.

The Millennium Cup will be awarded in respect of diversification of a holding. The Competition is open to all tenants farming an acreage of 2 ha or more and there is no entry fee.

If you are interested please apply to Kit who will be happy to email you the relevant application form. Completed Entry Forms are to be returned by the 1 June 2019 by email to christopher.helps@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

It’s competition year!

Open Farm Sunday This year Open Farm Sunday has been postponed to 20th September 2020. The event is run by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) who actively encourage all types of farms to open their gates to the public. No matter how small the event, involving people and helping them to understand farming can give the industry a massive boost. According to LEAF, the key is to showcase the huge variety of farms producing great food with care for the countryside.

There are many farms in the region that take part, so if you feel this year you would like to join in there is a lot of help available from LEAF to help you organise your event.

For more details see the LEAF website at www.farmsunday.org. If you plan to get involved this year please let us know!

To comply with the latest government advice we sadly have to cancel this years match.

We at Strategic Assets are hoping to make up a team to bowl out the tenants next year!

Muckspreaders Cup