Jason Beedell
Director, Research
Welcome to our Land Business Update
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Farming
House poultry to prevent avian flu spreading to England
The Government is requiring all captive birds and poultry, farmed and domestic, to be housed or appropriate steps to be taken to keep them separate from wild birds, until at least 6 January.
‘Emerging labour crisis’ in horticulture
Almost 50% of labour providers say that they have not been able to fulfil the horticulture sector’s staff requirements; this is a much worse situation than at the start of the year.
Dairy crisis almost at end but sector mustn’t rely on policy handouts
The EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan has said that he is “cautiously optimistic” that the dairy crisis is almost over, pointing to lower production (which he called supply side reaction) and higher prices.
Rural Business 2030 Conference
Unlocking the potential of rural businesses and estates
The CLA held this inaugural conference on 6 December, at which it launched a report and vision for how rural businesses can thrive and contribute to the economy.
Brexit, food and farming
Open letter to the PM
75 of the UK’s largest food producers and grocers have called for continued access to the single market and European labour, including Sainsbury’s, M&S, Arla, Dairy Crest and Weetabix, in an open letter coordinated by the NFU to the PM.
Scotland: one in five farmers considering retiring sooner due to Brexit
The SRUC survey of 720 businesses also found that farmers felt that the vote had increased business uncertainty, which could lead to lower investment.
Forestry
Not enough trees being planted and ancient woods still threatened
The Woodland Trust has claimed that only around 700 hectares of woodland were planted in England in 2016, well below the Government’s target of 5,000 hectares, and so started a debate about the country becoming deforested.
Economy
BoE sees increased risks to UK economy from world political changes
The Bank of England has warned that there are more risks from around the world that could negatively affect the UK’s growth, including Donald Trump’s anti-trade agreement policies.
Energy
Drax continues change to business model
The change, away from large coal powered stations to woodfuel and smaller quick -reacting gas generators is a sign of a potentially significant change in the UK energy system – a reverse in thinking so that conventional power generation is used to fill in the periods of low production from renewables.
Telecoms
Ofcom to force BT to split off Openreach into a new legal entity
The split is short of Virgin and Sky’s calls for Openreach to become independent.
Residential
UK housing market outlook highly uncertain
The outlook for the UK housing market is highly uncertain, with transactions slowing following the Brexit vote, according to the Bank of England’s financial stability report.
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