Anyone else watching agricultural land prices?

fc123

Thanks for the explanation ;-)
My OH ia prob right about subbing out the sheep...and there's me wanting to do 'an Izzy' and be pictured holding cuddly lambs wearing a nice wool product.

Why is there a 5 year thing for running a 'Hobby Farm'? danesnave mentioned it.

I hope your plan works out.... all plans I had 12 months ago are now all invalid.....still such is life. I have a good feeling that you will get what you want in the end.....but the way it happens may be different.
I hope OH is ok workwise too.

Now, got to think of a great product as a way of adding value to sheep.

Davesnave

fc123 wrote: »

Why is there a 5 year thing for running a 'Hobby Farm'? danesnave mentioned it.quote]

I just meant that if you run a smallholding as a business, HMRC will put up with you making a loss for 5 years, but they'll expect you to be in profit at the end of that time, or deem you to be a 'hobby farmer.' If they did that, all those lovely allowances/benefits you've claimed could be questioned. We certainly couldn't have run our business without Gordon's Tax Credits, for example.

Much the same is true regarding the local authority's attitude if you buy an agriculturally tied holding, usually at a discount of about 30% off the price for a comparable property. They will give you time to prove it is your main employment and that you are trying to make a go of it, but if they think you are mucking them about, say by just running a few sheep, they'll require you to leave.

Agriculturally tied properties are sometimes a nightmare to sell, especially the ones which have no significant land. In some places, people can apply to have the tie lifted, but only after being marketed at a fair price for 18 months or so. This can lead to some amusing situations, such as the afternoon we spent with a Monmouthshire agent and the farmers's widow, where both did their level best to put us off! We were also virtually chased out of one hamlet when attempting to do a 'walk-by,' with the farmer swearing blind that there was 'nothing for sale around here' and more or less accusing us of casing the place for a burglary.

And thanks fc for the kind comment about the 'too good to be true' property. We were worried by the local competition and also completely unaware that properties of that calibre were not going to come our way again. We had found two in a few months and fully expected to find more!

lostinrates

fc123 wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation ;-)
My OH ia prob right about subbing out the sheep...and there's me wanting to do 'an Izzy' and be pictured holding cuddly lambs wearing a nice wool product.

Why is there a 5 year thing for running a 'Hobby Farm'? danesnave mentioned it.

I hope your plan works out.... all plans I had 12 months ago are now all invalid.....still such is life. I have a good feeling that you will get what you want in the end.....but the way it happens may be different.
I hope OH is ok workwise too.

Now, got to think of a great product as a way of adding value to sheep.

I think the five year thing Davesnave brought up is purely speculation as to tax losses... people 'lose' money in farms which incidently helps reduce their tax bill. sure he'll set me straight if I'm incorrect though.

My plan would be to draw only a very minimal wage, putting everything back into the dream enterprise...who needs other money if you are living your dream? however, only really feasable with a supportive DH who will back me and be able to pay the running costs. To be ultimately profitable and leave behind a sustainable project, worthwhile someone else maintaining when I've kicked the bucket, I have no interest if I can only do it poorly, Id rather not do it. Who knows if it will happen. At least its something to aim for. I might feel really differently by then...things happen.

Hmm, sheep......Isn't knit wear making a comeback?

ETA, Dave got their while I was tyoing lol.

Davesnave

LIR:as you can see, that's what I meant.

I liked your comments about land stewardship, or the lack of it. I really hate it when I read in an agent's details 'The vendors have left these fields as a wildlife sanctuary,' or some such tosh, meaning that they just let the place go.

GDB2222

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Wrong journalist!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-467787/I-love-mixed-race-baby--does-feel-alien.html
One reason for my fear is my own mixed reactions to my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I love her. She is the child I didn't think I'd have after my first marriage broke up. She is the only granddaughter in our family and we all dote on her.
But when I turn to the mirror in my bedroom to admire us together, I am shocked. She seems so alien. With her long, dark eyelashes and shiny, dark brown hair, she doesn't look anything like me.
I know that concentrating on how my daughter looks is shallow. She is a person in her own right, not an accessory to me. But still, I can't shake off the feeling of unease.

Does this woman not know about search engines? Does she think her daughter won't look back to see what mummy wrote (about her)? Is she an idiot?

neverdespairgirl

GDB2222 wrote: »

Does this woman not know about search engines? Does she think her daughter won't look back to see what mummy wrote (about her)? Is she an idiot?

In order - don't know, don't know, a complete muppet, yes.

Isaac doesn't look anything like OH. OH is very dark, dark hair, dark eyes, strong features. Isaac has a baby blob of a face, and fair hair and blue eyes.

Doesn't seem to bother either of them. Rightly so.

GDB2222

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

In order - don't know, don't know, a complete muppet, yes.

Isaac doesn't look anything like OH. OH is very dark, dark hair, dark eyes, strong features. Isaac has a baby blob of a face, and fair hair and blue eyes.

Doesn't seem to bother either of them. Rightly so.

Forgive me asking, but does Isaac take after you or one of the grandparents / great-gps? I only ask because one of my nieces is quite blonde, yet both parents are dark-haired, as are the grandparents etc.

fc123

Davesnave wrote: »

fc123 wrote: »

Why is there a 5 year thing for running a 'Hobby Farm'? danesnave mentioned it.quote]

I just meant that if you run a smallholding as a business, HMRC will put up with you making a loss for 5 years, but they'll expect you to be in profit at the end of that time, or deem you to be a 'hobby farmer.' If they did that, all those lovely allowances/benefits you've claimed could be questioned. We certainly couldn't have run our business without Gordon's Tax Credits, for example.

Much the same is true regarding the local authority's attitude if you buy an agriculturally tied holding, usually at a discount of about 30% off the price for a comparable property. They will give you time to prove it is your main employment and that you are trying to make a go of it, but if they think you are mucking them about, say by just running a few sheep, they'll require you to leave.

Agriculturally tied properties are sometimes a nightmare to sell, especially the ones which have no significant land. In some places, people can apply to have the tie lifted, but only after being marketed at a fair price for 18 months or so. This can lead to some amusing situations, such as the afternoon we spent with a Monmouthshire agent and the farmers's widow, where both did their level best to put us off! We were also virtually chased out of one hamlet when attempting to do a 'walk-by,' with the farmer swearing blind that there was 'nothing for sale around here' and more or less accusing us of casing the place for a burglary.

And thanks fc for the kind comment about the 'too good to be true' property. We were worried by the local competition and also completely unaware that properties of that calibre were not going to come our way again. We had found two in a few months and fully expected to find more!

We all have Phd's in hindsight.......some of us have several.;)
I understand now.....I could give a venture a go (assuming I am not hounded out by the local neighbours) but MUST show a living wage after 5 years?

That sounds like the business I run now! I wonder who the civil servant was who thought this one up...actually sounds very reasonable to me.

In Monmouthshire...what you are saying; she HAD to put farm on the market (therfore you viewed) but, IF she couldn't get a buyer, then she wouldn't have been accused of running a hobby farm and could stay on without being 'forced' to sell???

My family had close friends who ran sheep farms in Wales (Brecon) as I grew up in Aberystwyth....so the sheep thing must be stuck deep down in my soul.
I know they can have 'added value' one day.


BTW Have either of you read Felicity Lawrences books?

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

Hmm, sheep......Isn't knit wear making a comeback? .

It's a really great yarn but the wool marketing board has sold out on UK wool prices. All that bobbly stuff we buy nowadays...mostly recycled wool (minced up second hand knitwear), exported to China, shredded, spun, knitted and exported straight back to us.

Textile waste I know loads about....was the basis of our business from '86 - '00...then everyone worked out what we were doing...time to move on.........now , most of the clothing recycling plants up north are gone...the old clothes go straight to landfill....though a lot of the waste is now un-recyclable due to it's low grade from the outset (thankyou Primark et al).

Wool is misunderstood....itchy, cannot chuck into machine (therefore seen as high maintenance) and a little 'worthy' (re; lizzy article).

It needs a whole new concept;) (and I am actually allergic to it unless worn over cotton) but with heating costs rising, it's good to keep warm with plus the hang of worsted is unbeatable (as suit wearers will agree).


It's a plan for 5 years from now...

fc123

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

In order - don't know, don't know, a complete muppet, yes.

Isaac doesn't look anything like OH. OH is very dark, dark hair, dark eyes, strong features. Isaac has a baby blob of a face, and fair hair and blue eyes.

Doesn't seem to bother either of them. Rightly so.

If you 'do' a second, it may pick up more of the other genes.
My DD is like OH and son like me.
It's a random thing.;)