Happy 36th Cheshire Farmart, if you decide to paint the town red you know where to get the paint from! All the best Dave & Jill at A I Paint Supplies FARMART EXPERTS


CARL HANKINSON BANK MANAGER


Carl is NatWest’s Head of Agriculture for the North of England.


What is the current sentiment of the sector?


There is hesitancy within the sector brought about by Brexit. It is key that managers continue to focus on driving the businesses forward, don't use Brexit as an excuse to let your business stagnate.


Brexit & the Ag Bill suggests that the sector faces a period of change. Should this be feared?


Change isn't bad per se, it brings opportunity for those who are prepared and able to react to opportunities presented. Brexit is not a catalyst for change, merely a blip on the accelerator. The pace of change has never been this fast, and I suspect it will never be this slow again; our industry has been continually adapting and changing. Think how your “mobile phone” has developed over the last 10 years and how you use it!


What can farmers do to prepare for potential opportunities?


Many farmers work IN their businesses 12 hours per day. In times like these it is even more important that time is made to work ON the business. Taking time to strategically challenge all that you do and how you do it. Involving the whole team can offer insight to help drive the business forward.


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Where effort should be focussed? Our most successful customers have a focus on:


Having a clear strategy - they know where they are going


Setting goals & budgets - to get them there in a disciplined way


They compare themselves to others and learn from them They minimise overhead costs


They know and understand their market and supply its requirements


They focus on the detail while keeping abreast of the bigger picture


They are prepared to change & innovate recognising they wont get it right every time


Your final thoughts


I'm optimistic. There are plenty of opportunities to develop farm businesses and our team work closely with farming families to help them implement their plans. If you wish to discuss more of how Natwest can support you & your business contact me at carl.hankinson@natwest.com.


T: 07766 423 199


e: carl.hankinson@natwest.com www.natwestbusinesshub.com


NAZIA NAWAZ SOLICITOR


Nazia has particular expertise in acting for farmers in land, property and estate disputes.


What is proprietary estoppel?


The doctrine of proprietary estoppel effectively provides a means by which a person may become entitled to an interest in or a right over land that is owned by another person, despite not having any legally documented interest in that land.


How can a person prove that they have such an interest in someone else's land?


They would need to prove the following three elements in order to successfully bring a proprietary estoppel claim:


1. That a promise or assurance was made to them by the owner of the land that they would acquire an interest or right in the land. This assurance can be an express verbal assurance or promise or an implied one so long as the person is led to believe that they will have rights in the property.


2. That the person relied on that assurance or promise and they must be able to show that they acted on the assurance.


3. That by relying on the assurance the person has suffered a detriment. For example, spent money on improving or buying land which they would not otherwise have done.


What remedies are available in successful claims?


The court has a general discretion as to what remedies to grant in each case and every case is considered on its own facts and circumstances. However, in recent cases, the courts have awarded remedies such as monetary compensation, transfer of land or the grant of an easement to successful claimants.


For further information on this or any legal dispute please contact Nazia Nawaz at: nazia.nawaz@fieldingsporter.co.uk.


Fiedings Porter Solicitors are highly experienced in representing farmers and farming related businesses in all types of legal cases. For a FREE half hour telephone consultation with one of our experts, please contact us on 0161 834 4722


T: 0161 834 4722


e: nazia.nawaz@fieldingsporter.co.uk www.fieldingsporter.co.uk


TOMMY ADAMS GPS SPECIALIST


Based in Shrewsbury, Tommy manages the Precision Farming Team at Rea Valley Tractors.


What exactly is Precision Farming?


Farming practices are becoming more specific, with remote sensing, GPS guidance, Data Analytics and record keeping all being added to farm equipment, in order to make farming and its operations more precise. John Deere GPS Autotrac systems entered the market in 2002 and today we see tractors steering themselves to an accuracy of 2cm using RTK technology. As well as autosteer, section control and variable rate applications which have been developed and save on average 8% on farm inputs.


How have you seen Precision Farming progression over the years?


In my opinion GPS on a tractor is becoming as important as the mechanics itself. 10 years ago we would be driving past fields that have been drilled with Autosteer thinking to ourselves how straight the operator has managed to drive, now we drive past checking how well the GPS has been setup in terms of overlaps. With technology people want more and more from the system, once people have got used to Autosteer they then move to section control, variable rate, data management and other technologies that benefit their business. With this in mind and the increasing reliance on this type of equipment our Precision Farming department have now a team of 5 who are solely focused on giving Precision Farming support to our customers. Our team has diverse skills, i.e. some members are focused on the technical side of life i.e. fitting and installing systems onto relevant machines while others are more focused on helping farmers and growers make best use of the data they are collecting.


Can Precision Farming technology be used on older machines?


Yes with having access to the Ag Leader and John Deere portfolio of precision farming products we are able to cover all aspects of retrofitting this technology to older machines. Just lately we have had many people choose to upgrade their existing equipment rather than buying new, this has been helped by a number of grants that have been made available. One popular module we offer is the Ag Leader ISO Liquid this enables rate and section control on older sprayers.


T: : 01743 289 100


e: tommyadams@reavalleytractors.com www.reavalleytractors.com


IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A FARMART EXPERT CALL US ON 01625 529 900 May 2019 Keep The Farmart coming free..... Tell’em where you saw’em Page 21


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