Dear Farmers,
I have had my eye on farming for a few years now, due to family ties (my dad's a trained agronomist but made his money elsewhere and my mum comes from an active farming family but wasn't involved in the day to day affairs of the farm, a fairly largescale operation in south of England). I have always been taught to value the soil and its produce but I have only very limited knowledge of the industry. I've made my money elsewhere (i.e. London) and now live in Cambridgeshire.
For many reasons which I'd be happy to discuss I have come to the conclusion that it is an absolute necessity to have land. By that I mean while milking the modern financial system as much as I can, I also need to have land where I need to start a permaculture project to ensure the independence of my family. I understand that a single family probably doesn't need much more than 2-4 acres of land, depending on how it's situated, soil quality and access to water. But part of me wants to go bigger, say above 10 acres, and build a home on it (a resilient home... quasi off-grid). I understand the Field to Farm program requires 12.5 acres, so that's what I had in mind. I want to build a second home as a farm.
Now the problem with this is that under the Field to Farm government program you don't get a home before 10 years. First a I could be allowed to build a barn without planning, but then the government requires 10 years of profitable (taxed) production before I may get planning for a dwelling. That's so obviously a rigged game.
Thus the only way I can think of is to buy an existing farm with a dwelling. Perhaps a nice shortcut would be an orchard that would give me a head start.
My question is this: if I buy a small farm with a history of mono-culture based profitability and taxes and I decide to switch it to full-on permaculture (i.e. a holistic combination of trees, shrubs and many other plants on regenerated soil, using only natural compost or other natural means to enhance the quality of the soil and ecosystem), it is unlikely I would sell any of the produce to the marketplace for a significant period of time. I would keep my day job and wouldn't need the money. Thus is the government at some point going to question this decision as it won't be able to tax a commercial yield? Would they interfere in any way? In any case I am aware it would take a handful of years for the ecosystem to start generating sufficient produce to feed us, but I'm just trying to get a sense of how the government would gauge this given the fact that I would not pay tax to them at all.
If anyone has a view on this it would be most welcome.
Best regards,
Ultra G
I have had my eye on farming for a few years now, due to family ties (my dad's a trained agronomist but made his money elsewhere and my mum comes from an active farming family but wasn't involved in the day to day affairs of the farm, a fairly largescale operation in south of England). I have always been taught to value the soil and its produce but I have only very limited knowledge of the industry. I've made my money elsewhere (i.e. London) and now live in Cambridgeshire.
For many reasons which I'd be happy to discuss I have come to the conclusion that it is an absolute necessity to have land. By that I mean while milking the modern financial system as much as I can, I also need to have land where I need to start a permaculture project to ensure the independence of my family. I understand that a single family probably doesn't need much more than 2-4 acres of land, depending on how it's situated, soil quality and access to water. But part of me wants to go bigger, say above 10 acres, and build a home on it (a resilient home... quasi off-grid). I understand the Field to Farm program requires 12.5 acres, so that's what I had in mind. I want to build a second home as a farm.
Now the problem with this is that under the Field to Farm government program you don't get a home before 10 years. First a I could be allowed to build a barn without planning, but then the government requires 10 years of profitable (taxed) production before I may get planning for a dwelling. That's so obviously a rigged game.
Thus the only way I can think of is to buy an existing farm with a dwelling. Perhaps a nice shortcut would be an orchard that would give me a head start.
My question is this: if I buy a small farm with a history of mono-culture based profitability and taxes and I decide to switch it to full-on permaculture (i.e. a holistic combination of trees, shrubs and many other plants on regenerated soil, using only natural compost or other natural means to enhance the quality of the soil and ecosystem), it is unlikely I would sell any of the produce to the marketplace for a significant period of time. I would keep my day job and wouldn't need the money. Thus is the government at some point going to question this decision as it won't be able to tax a commercial yield? Would they interfere in any way? In any case I am aware it would take a handful of years for the ecosystem to start generating sufficient produce to feed us, but I'm just trying to get a sense of how the government would gauge this given the fact that I would not pay tax to them at all.
If anyone has a view on this it would be most welcome.
Best regards,
Ultra G
