Farming Conference 2022-23
Our one-day virtual Farming conference has been specifically designed for partners and managers with responsibility for a number of farming clients. It is a specialist conference looking at a wide range of practical issues which will enable those attending to provide the best possible advice to their clients.
The programme is correct at the time of publication. Mercia Group reserve the right to change the programme and speakers as a result of circumstances beyond our control.
Who should attend the conference
Mercia's Farming Conference 2022-23 is a must-attend event for any firm or practice with Farming and Agricultural clients.
Through this one-day virtual conference, you will get industry insights about the farming sector and hear from indsutry experts on how you can add value to your clients.
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Full conference agenda
9.30AM
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION FROM CONFERENCE CHAIRPERSON
Graham Redman, The Andersons Centre
This session will cover:
- Current farm profitability and financial situation
- Trade and policy changes
- Market developments and outlook for the main farming sectors
- The future of UK farming
Neil Owen, VAT Advisory Services Ltd
In this session, Neil will look at a number of topics where changes or new perspectives may be valuable. Subjects covered will include:
- Installation of energy-saving materials
- Employee accommodation
- Grants and subsidies
- Expenditure on farmhouses
10.55AM
REFRESHMENT BREAK
Jeremy Moody, Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV)
This session will cover:
- England’s Overall Strategy
- The Death of Basic Payment
- The New Production Scheme
- The New Public Goods Schemes
- Developing Policies in Wales and Scotland
Chris Thorpe, Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)
The session, which will cover:
- Basis period reform including:
- Basic intro to MTD and the reason why basis period reform is occuring
- Overlap profits be utilised and availability of terminal loss relief
- Reminder of normal loss relief rules with an update of the Nagshineh case
- Capital allowances:
- Looking at the recent case of JRO Griffith and storage silos to illustrate the long-standing issues
- Recent reform consultation and the suggestions made in that document
- Proprietary estoppel:
- Brief overview of that equitable concept and implied trusts
- How such a contentious situation can be avoided
12.40PM
LUNCH
David Missen, Consultant
Is MTD looking ever more problematic? Can anything be done to ease the problems?
How can clients manage the basis year change to advantage?
Will the "outgoers scheme" be as simple as it sounds?
David will look at the changes confronting the industry on a farm by farm basis and assess whether advantages can be drawn from the developments happening in the next few years. He will specifically look at worked examples of the interaction between the factors summarised by the earlier speakers.
Antony Pearce, Moat Farm
An opportunity to hear from a farmer about current issues and how accountants can really add value to their clients.
3.00PM
REFRESHMENT BREAK
Jeremy Moody, Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV)
This session will cover:
- The Environment Act – Framework, Targets, Regime
- Climate Change and Rural Land
- Hold onto your Carbon
- Biodiversity Net Gain
- Nutrient Neutrality, Water Neutrality
David Missen, Consultant
This short session will look at the accounting treatment of existing and potential green schemes and how this fits in with both income and capital taxes.
Kit Franklin, Harper Adams University
Kit will recap the fundamentals and history of agricultural robotics, explaining how this shaped the ideas behind the Hands Free Hectare and how the collaboration was born. He will then go on to recap how the project ran for its first two successful years of autonomous cropping honing and improved the performance of the system.
Kit will also explain how the project grew into a Farm with refreshed aims and highlight the achievements to date. Finally, he will discuss the implications and outputs of the project including economic studies and knowledge exchange activities which are shaping the future adoption of autonomous agriculture.
5.00PM
CLOSE OF CONFERENCE
Conference speakers
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Graham is a Partner of The Andersons Centre, author of the John Nix Farm Management Pocketbook and a Director of Agro Business Consultants. He has been an agricultural economist at The Andersons Centre since 2004. He provides specialist agri-business research services, to public and private organisations alike. These include training, briefings, agricultural modeling and lead project-work. The Andersons Centre is a multi-disciplined farming and agribusiness consultancy, providing advice and interpretation to all sectors in the agricultural supply chain. Before joining Andersons, Graham was the economist for a major agricultural merchant, focussing chiefly on grain and animal feed marketing providing guidance to the grain trading and grain procurement teams. Prior to that, he was a farm management consultant for a national firm in Central and Southern England. He has worked extensively on several types of farm. Graham has agricultural degrees from Leeds and Reading Universities. He is a Council Member for the Institute of Agricultural Management and a Chartered Environmentalist. |
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Neil Owen is an independent consultant, speaker and occasional writer. He has specialised exclusively in VAT since 1984, when he joined HM Customs and Excise as a VAT officer. He entered professional practice in 1990, working for regional accountancy firms in the Thames Valley and Solent areas, before establishing his own VAT consultancy practice in 2007. Neil has taken a close interest in VAT for academies for over ten years and continues to advise a number of clients in the sector, mainly MATs, on a regular basis |
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Jeremy is Secretary and Adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers and an independent adviser. |
Chris is a technical officer at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, prior to which he was a lecturer at Mercia. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
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Having previously been a Partner within a regional firm of chartered accountants, David is now an independent consultant. He is an agriculture subject matter expert for the ICAEW farming community and also writes assignments and lectures for firms within the sector. He has his own small farm which he has expanded with a mixture of arable, solar and stewardship areas. |
Antony trained in finance before returning to the 900 acre family farm in 2014. Since then, the mixed farm, located in Buckinghamshire, has evolved under his management. Cattle & sheep have gone but Christmas turkeys and market focused combinable crops remain. The family also farm in the Cotswolds which has been farmed as an arable joint venture with neighbours since 2007.
Antony was a board member of the Joint Venture Farming Group from 2011 and was recognised as an emerging leader by the Oxford Farming Conference in 2017. He promotes regenerative practices through his YouTube channel and was shortlisted for Soil Farmer of the Year 2021.
Kit is a Chartered Engineer and research active Senior Engagement Fellow in the Engineering Department at Harper Adams University. His expertise covers a range of topics from mechanical design to precision farming. Kit’s research into “future farming systems” led to the ground-breaking and headline-grabbing world first ‘Hands-Free Hectare’ project, which established and harvested a cereal crop autonomously and has now grown to become the Hands Free Farm.
He is a Current Vice President of Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) and co-chairs the IAgrE Robotics Special Interest Group.
One Day Conference
