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Latest News

Latest News

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) opens for applications today (29th May).

FETF 2025 applications now open 🐑🐄🚜

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) opens for applications today (29th May).The window to apply will be open for 6 weeks, closing midday on the 10th of July.A total of £46.7 million will be available for farmers, growers, foresters, and contractors through the FETF, which provides grants for machinery, equipment, and technology to help cut costs and boost efficiency in your farming or forestry business.Funding is available under three themes:• Productivity• Slurry Management• Animal Health and WelfareYou can apply for each of the grant themes but can only submit one application for each theme.…

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Job Opportunity

Opportunity to join AKC

We are looking for a proactive and enthusiastic team member to join the AKC team to assist with client bookkeeping and some payroll support. Our client base is predominantly working for farm and rural businesses.

The Role

Initially the position will be office based at our office in Erlestoke. Once settled into the role there will be some client visits to complete work on site, within a hour’s radius of the AKC office. Plus the opportunity to partly work from home can be considered if desired.

Key Responsibilities:

Bookkeeping tasks will include entering sales and purchase invoices, reconciling the bank, submitting VAT returns, running monthly/…

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Office hours Christmas 2024

We wish you a Happy Christmas

We wish you a Happy Christmas & a peaceful New Year from all the team at AKC 

The office will be closed from 5pm 23rd December and will reopen 9am 2nd January. 

Payroll will be working reduced hours between Christmas and New Year.

If you have an urgent enquiry please email your usual contact 

Shows 2024

Shows 2024

This year we will be attending: 

Groundswell Down to Earth Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show

We look forward to seeing you there!

Barn conversion

New Planning Laws

Government has announced new planning laws for England, allowing farmers greater freedom to grow and diversify their businesses. 

The NFU vice president who brought forward these issues in the last consultation is pleased with the items included in the announcement – these include: 

Expanding and extending the size of buildings that can be erected with permitted development, and Expanding the changes of use within buildings on farms. 

Following these changes, farmers now have scope to convert agricultural buildings and land into business opportunities, without the need for a planning application. This includes larger farm shops, outdoor sports facilities, farm training centres…

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Cattle

Tackling endemic diseases in cattle and sheep – A New Support

Tackling endemic diseases in cattle and sheep – A New Support

DEFRA has announced a new support to help farmers tackle BVD and various health conditions in sheep. The Farm to Fork Summit saw the Prime announce this new support, which will be available from Summer 2024, to help livestock farmers with these ongoing issues. 

Livestock farmers can receive a set fee for each animal species: 

Sheep - £639Cattle with no BVD - £215 

Where BVD is present within beef and dairy herds, a higher rate will be offered from between £837 to £1733. 

The support will initially be available for sheep and beef cattle, with dairy cattle added soon after. 

The…

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Soil Benchmark Website

Soil Benchmark – A useful tool for developing your soil management plan

Have you heard of Soil Benchmark? 

A useful tool growing in popularity as it offers farmers (in England, Scotland and Wales) a cost-effective alternative for creating soil management plans that meet the requirements of DEFRA SFI Policy.

Frequently used by rural advisers and agronomists, Soil Benchmark allows farmers to quickly and easily meet all the requirements of the new SAM1 option in SFI. The use of data from the Environment Agency, Ordnance Survey, and British Geological Survey, means the system provides all the information needed for meeting DEFRA’s requirements when forming soil management plans. 

The ‘Smart Proposals’ provided by Soil Benchmark, are…

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Temporary adjustments to support farmers struggling to meet mandatory requirements for their agreements

Temporary Wet Weather Adjustments for Agri-Environment Schemes

With wet weather causing havoc for many farmers across the country, DEFRA have introduced new temporary adjustments to support farmers who have experienced disruptions to their farming activities. In particular, those who are struggling to meet mandatory requirements for their agreements (such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship). 

These adjustments will allow farmers more time to establish crops for their agreements, or to delay some activities to later in the year. This covers the period from 1 October 2023 to 31 July 2024, for live agreements. For more information about these adjustments, click here.

The Future of Hedgerow Protections in England

The Future of Hedgerow Protections in England

Parliament is forming new legislations to protect hedgerows in England, to address DEFRA’s recent consultation on how hedgerows should be protected in England. 

If this new legislation is approved by parliament, then the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 will integrate baseline management practices into law. This aims to replicate the approach of previous cross compliance rules, which farmers are already familiar with. 

The new rules will aim to: 

Replicate the 2m requirement for buffer strips and not increase the required width Continue offering payment for buffer strips wider than 2m Allow the spot application of pesticides within… Read More
Animal Health and Welfare Grants Now Available

Animal Health and Welfare Grants Applications Now Open

As part of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2024, the three Animal Health and Welfare Grants are designed to provide financial support to farmers purchasing new equipment and technology for their livestock businesses. There are over 230 items to choose from, with 54 new items since the last round. 

A percentage of the cost of each item applied for, will be paid for by DEFRA. 

For many items, the percentage of how much is paid, has increased since last year. 

 

The Three Grants available: 

Grant items that improve productivity Grant items for slurry management Grant items that improve animal health and… Read More
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AKC
Offices 4 - 11 CDL Business Park
Lower Road, Erlestoke
Devizes
Wiltshire
SN10 5UE