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Agricultural valuation expert warns certainty on rural policy ending in Budget preview lecture

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An agricultural valuation expert has warned farmers a lack of rural policy from the Government means they will have to fend for themselves as decades of certainty end.

Jeremy Moody, Secretary and Advisor to the Central Association for Agricultural Valuers, set out his thoughts in a guest lecture to students and staff at SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½.

He explained how certainty about the Government’s agricultural policies ‘fell off a cliff’ in last year’s Budget – before looking ahead to what to expect from Chancellor Rachel Reeves when she rises to give present next week’s Budget to the house.

He said: “People are still looking at the world through the prism of the experience of the last 30 years. They're looking for government to say, well, this is the policy, this is what we're wanting.

“I've said for some months now that we know less about agricultural policy in England than we did a year ago - actually, it's becoming easier to say: there is no agricultural policy in England.

“And so, it's now for businesses and farmers to look to themselves, to make their own decisions about how they farm, what they farm, where they farm, who they're going to do it, what they're going to produce, how are they going to sell it?

“These are decisions for business which are not guided, now, by the framework of public policy in the way that people have been used to- certainly since the evolution of direct area payments back in the early 1990s.”

Mr Moody took his audience through the various impacts farmers and rural businesses could expect after the most recent changes to farm payments, policy, and tax – including the Government’s controversial inheritance tax proposals.

He added: “The government is looking at farmers to be profitable - hence Minette Batters’ profitability review.

“So if this is not a prompt - if this prospective tax charge is not a prompt, with the sensitivity of all the assets that are involved, that makes people sit down, think hard about how to protect themselves, their businesses and their families - what on earth will be?”

As people faced these new realities, Mr Moody suggested, the role of agricultural professionals – such as those in the CAAV – will become more important than ever.

He explained the value of calm, reasoned advice and of careful planning – and of farmers and rural businesses thinking ahead strategically and planning their next steps early.

He added: “Think now, manage change now, and you could do it in a more orderly way.

“You can do it over time - and you never expect to do anything that radical that quickly - but it's astonishing, when you look back over five years how, much you've moved.

“If you can think now, you are in more in command of your future than you would be otherwise.

“It’s the old rule:  that what's under the farmer's boot is what's under his control. What's within the ring fence is under control.

“These are the things that you can actually look after, as opposed to wider issues of public policy and the ebbing and flowing of governance and so on as we go through.”

Speaking after Mr Moody’s lecture, Land and Property Course Manager Dr Mark Simcock added: “I was delighted to welcome Jeremy to the campus again this year. 

“Jeremy, as ever, is a very engaging and respected speaker and spoke to a packed lecture theatre and gave us all lots to digest and reflect upon.

“Jeremy caught up with some of our students following his presentation - where the discussion continued around a whole range of issues.”