Recent content by tommydog

But what about your financial records? Is it a requirement to keep full financial accounts of who you have sold to? What about if they find out I have sold to someone with horses, could they not argue that is not agricultural?

I will get some advice, but I wonder if submitting the application form would buy me a little more time? If anything is wrong do they just send the form back and ask me to fill in relevant sections again?

The thing is I don't know if Hay even qualifies as a valid agricultural activity? Also does it mean I can only sell hay to people who have livestock and not horses?

I am just filling in the Single Application Form now. There is no time to talk to an adviser as the application closes on Monday and I am going on holiday tomorrow. Not sure what you mean about buying entitlements? The people who owned the property before had horses, so they would not have...

Earlier in the year I purchased a house with 15 acres of land in Scotland and recently acquired a tractor and baler. I don't plan to do anything else with the land other than Hay and a small vegetable plot (1 acre), where I will supply vegetables to a few neighbors . In light of this, I was...

With regards to the hay is it better to focus on the private horse market? I guess they will pay more for it? Also with 15 acres is it worth registering for the subsidies, or is it more trouble than it's worth for such a small area of land?

That's really not a bad idea and may be a good way to get started. When you mention £4000, I am pleasantly surprised. My main motivation is just to do this as a hobby, so if I brake even that would be a result. But it seems like I may even be able to return a small profit? Storage certainly...

You seem to have a very different philosophy. Out of interest what machinery do you use and what do you grow?

I may be missing something, but for old / vintage stuff on Ebay I have seen relatively cheap seed drills and harrow's (for a couple of thousand pounds). Or is that equipment no good? It's only 15 acres, so it will not get much use. As for sprayers, that's not a heavy task, so would a quad...

Yes that's a good point. I have many years experience of growing vegetables over 1/4 acre (I used a rotovator for that), but I have no experience of mechanised farming whatsoever. Can anyone recommend any books / videos which are aimed at the beginner and show you where to start? Also I am...

Out of interest what would your preference be? The Super Dexta's or the MF35 or T20?

What other "expensive" equipment do you feel is a necessity? My main motivation is to do this as a hobby, so I'm not trying to balance the books and make it commercially viable. Whatever it costs me it costs me (within reason!)

I have just purchased a property with 15 acres of land and am interested in growing crops (animal farming does not interest me). I know I could hire equipment / get contractors in, but I want to be as independent as possible. What tractor would people suggest I buy? Ideally I would like an...