In article , Phil L
wrote:

big snip

Forty miles North of here it's all pasture land and dairy herds but
litteraly dozens of good quality fisheries - almost every farmer has
dug a pit or two and cashed in on his good fortune - the land is

Dairy is going to take a big hit. A lot of herds will go in the next two
years, Scotland and Wales will be less affected but in England it'll be
*big* units or none at all.

almost all clay making it useless for crops but perfect for pasture

Clay can grow good crops, there must be another reason.

(and fisheries!) but if he had to give up the income from EU
subsidised grain it'd be a different thing altogether.......further

There is no longer any subsidy on grain. It's sfp nowadays, thats why the
orchards are going, they don't qualify.

North still there are none again as the land is scrub - just a few
inches of soil over solid granite which sustains mosses and heathers
and the millions of sheep but little else -Geography is everything!

*We do have a few day ticket waters but they aren't on farmland - they
tend to be old lakes which are managed by an AS and day tickets are
available.

Farms near cities will be scrambling to diversify due to CAP changes, some
will go into fisheries but there is a good chance there will be oversupply
and many will just go bust a little bit slower. With the rules about
muckspreading being tightened (also a big problem for dairy farmers, many of
whom will have to store up to six months worth of slurry overwinter) this
may be a good time for clubs to firm up river rental agreements. In effect
a great many farmers will be forced either to invest heavily - with an
uncertain future, or to retire (Many are over 50 in any case, few farmer's
sons are willing to take on the business.) In the current low interest
regime a long-term water rental deal could look very attractive to an older
farmer.

Cheerio,

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