May 2013

As always, it has been a busy few months here at Agri Advisor. Work is continuing on the barns. However, I am pleased to say that the inside is pretty much complete, with the finishing touches being put in place at the moment. Outside is shaping up too with a lorry delivering gravel here as I speak.

There has been a lot of change within the offices recently too, with many changes in staff. We have welcomed Gail Lewis from Llanidloes who has previously worked as a land agent. I met Gail whilst attending the Agri Academy Leadership Course and realised that she was interested in doing legal work as well.  We have also welcomed Manon Tomos to the firm, who is replacing Mari Davies in the role of Business Development Officer. Mari Davies has gone on to pastures new at Menter a Busnes in a role which seeks to assist food producers with their marketing. We wish her luck in this new position and in her marriage in August this year.  We have also received the sad news that Elin Marks, our legal secretary is leaving us but also wish her luck in her new post with the NHS.  Ally Rideout from Manordeilo has already commenced work with us as a legal secretary. Carys Taylor, a solicitor and who hails from Ceredigion has also joined us in March this year and specialises in transactional matters and renewable energy projects.

May is a particularly busy month for us as we have many events taking place. This weekend we will be attending the Royal Welsh Spring Fair where we’ll have a stand. We are also attending the NSA Welsh Sheep Event 2013 on Tuesday 21^st May at Beili Ficer, Llansawel which is just a stone’s throw away from us here at Henllan. Excitingly, we will be launching our latest product at the NSA Sheep Event – our farming app! FarmMed is an app designed to make farmers lives easier by keeping their Medicine records accurate and by satisfying the regulations which farmers must abide by in terms of recording what medicines they give their animals, when and what withdrawal period applies. It is available to download from the iTunes app store for a one off price of £9.99 – much cheaper than any other similar apps currently available which charge approximately £60 per year. Come and join us on the stand for the launch and to find out more about the app as well as to have a cup of tea and a chat!

April 2013

It’s been a while since I’ve  had the chance to sit down and  write a blog, but finally I’ve got round to it. It’s been so busy here at Agri Advisor, with the Barns and new staff joining the team let alone lambing on top of it all!

As always things are changing at Agri Advisor and we continue to grow. We have a new solicitor Carys Taylor working with us (you can view her profile on our website). Pam has also joined us as office manager and is doing a great job of organizing and planning the daily running of the office. We have also been busy planning events for late spring, the next ones being The Spring Festival in May and the NSA Wales Sheep Event a few days later. You are more than welcome to come and join us for a cup of tea at our Stand at both events!

We’ve been very lucky for once, the snow didn’t affect us here, but it is heart-breaking for the farmers lambing in feet of snow, and lambs being buried alive, our thoughts go out to them. This time last year we were in a middle of a heat wave, what a difference a year makes!

Take care

Nerys

Snow, snow and more snow!

Snow has made Pumsaint famous! Pumsaint and the road from here to Lampeter has been mentioned on the news lots of times over the past few days due to a couple of accidents on that stretch. One of the advantages of working and living in the same place is that work can carry on as normal so the office is open as usual. The rest of the staff are working from home utilising the benefits of our remote working system. The barns are white and look really pretty. I've attached a photo of them yesterday morning before they started digging up the yard.

Earlier this week, I was at the last residential for the Agri Academy leadership course. We had an inspirational talk by Nigel Evans, Director of First Milk and Evanridge Properties who talked about how it was the challenge of new goals that drove him forward. We also had an entertaining few days with Gwenno Dafydd doing some media training which was something I had never experienced before. The breakfast at the Welsh Government on the Tuesday morning gave us as a group an opportunity to meet other people working within the agricultural industry including Assembly Members. Dr Christianne Glossop and Lord Dafydd Elis Thomas then spoke to us about leadership and the role of the Welsh Government in dealing with matters in relation to agriculture. We then gave feedback to DM Alun Davies on the Agri Academy leadership course and he presented us with our certificates.

Agri Academy has been an amazing experience and one I would recommend to anyone contemplating applying for the next round of the programme. As a group we have bonded in a way that I would not have believed before the course and it has provided a fantastic source of support and inspiration for me over the past six months. Our next event will be the Farming Connect conference on 6th February 2013. 

New Year

Happy New Year! Lambing season is well under way at Henllan with the shed quickly filling up with lambs. Grateful that this first batch is lambing indoors bearing in mind the weather over the past month. Our 5 sheepdog puppies are now 8 weeks old and are running around everywhere normally in hot pursuit of Llyr who thinks that he can outrun them!

In the office, we are busy as usual. We cannot wait to be in the new barns which we hope will be within the next month. We have been sale shopping for some of the internal furniture and the interiors are nearly ready bar some tiling and painting. Our current dilemma is what we call the new building and if anyone has any suggestions for a name please let us know. We are offering a bottle of wine to the person who puts forward the name that we ultimately decide to use. So far the suggestions via Facebook have included 'Llys Amaeth' and CyngorDŷ. The competition closes at the end of this month.

Tonight, we have a WiRE Carmarthenshire meeting at the Cottage Inn in Llandeilo at 7pm. Please encourage people to come along. Tony Worsley of ANY Communications will be talking about new technologies and how to maximise their use within small businesses. So if you want to know how you can use your IPad or IPhone effectively for your business then please come along and bring a friend with you. 

Were has this year gone?!

I know this is a cliché but how fast has this year gone? With barely two weeks to go until Christmas I am not sure where this year has gone and being the ultimate Christmas Eve shopper and Christmas decorator, this year will be no different. I think this year has flown by even faster than usual because there have been so many changes and events which have meant there has been little time to have pause for thought. The business has multiplied in size since this time last year and as Mari reminded me recently, we were only three at last year's Christmas party, this year we were 8 but should have been 10 if it were not for illness. We all have individual and important roles to play within the business and I must take this opportunity to thank each member of the team for their valued contributions and hard work in 2012, our dramatic growth would have been impossible without them and I look forward to their continued support in 2013. It is therefore with sadness that I must report that Meinir Davies, who joined us in March 2012, is moving on to pastures new in the New Year. We will all miss her at Agri Advisor Solicitors and wish her well in her new adventure.

The barns will be finished in January (I am crossing my fingers as I write this) and I must thank Randell & Janes and all the contractors that have been working on site for the last 6 months and for making sure that the work progresses towards the deadline.

We had an excellent turn out for our Succession and Exit Planning event at Pontargothi Hall on Friday 7th December 2012 in conjunction with LHP Chartered Accountants and Sian Bushell, Succession Planning Facilitator. If you need assistance with succession planning please do not hesitate to contact us.

I gave a presentation at a CAP Reform Conference held in London on 6th December 2012 which discussed the main points of the reforms currently on the table. Gwilym Jones spoke on behalf of the Commission and several MEPs were also present to give their views. One thing is now fairly certain, the reforms for Pillar 1 will not be implemented by 1 January 2014, that is now even being admitted by the Commission as an impossibility. Having said that there is reluctance to delay things further than that and therefore there is considerable pressure on all three European institutions to come to an agreement sooner rather than later. The same day I also attended the ADR Mediation Conference in Oxford, and it made me think that perhaps we could do with sending a couple of mediators to Brussels to resolve the differences between officers of the various EU institutions! At the mediation conference, it was emphasised that there would be dramatic changes to costs recovery and use of mediation further to the Jackson review and that these were due to commence in April 2013. This will mean that it will be more difficult to recover costs from the other side if you have not used mediation but also will mean costs are not normally awarded if the value of the case is low. This is designed to encourage people to settle disputes as opposed to litigate them. It will be interesting to see if this works in practice.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

   

October Flown By

Last day of October and at least we have had some good weather over the past week. This has enabled us to put down most of the pipes for the ground source heat pump but there is still a further 200m to go! The electricians are doing the first fix inside the barns, and some of the stonework is being done where the new external doors are going. We are still on target for the beginning of the year but I'm sure the next two months will fly by. Just hope the weather holds up for us to get the outside areas finished.

Am in Warwick today teaching on the Agricultural Law Association Fellowship course. Drove up last night in the dark but was amazed at how many farmers were about making full use of their tractor lights. One farmer was ploughing near Hereford and obviously trying to make the most of the short dry spell we have had.

Will be at the West Wales Law Society Dinner on Saturday night (3rd November) and can't wait for the Agri Academy Brussels trip on 11th November. Will be great to catch with the rest of the group and get a chance to ask questions directly to those making and influencing decisions in Europe on CAP. 

Time Flies

The old adage "time flies when you are having fun" is definitely true. Its hard to believe that a year has already passed since I started Agri Advisor Solicitors. In one sense so much has happened since then it seems a long time ago now but at the same time I still remember vividly all the work associated with setting up the business. We had a little celebration last Friday night and the bottle of champagne which has been in the fridge last year by way of incentive is no more! Mari made us a cake of which I think there may be a few crumbs left.

The business would not have been such a success without the help and support of friends and family. I am indebted to them for giving of their time, and advice over the last year and for enabling me to be able to concentrate on the business.  I am very fortunate because without them none of it would have been possible. I am also extremely lucky to have found a great team of people to work with on a day to day basis.

But why look back, when we can look forward and to be honest I can't wait to see what unfolds in the years to come.

Next week, we will be at the Dairy Event at Carmarthen Showground. Given the issues with milk prices this year and the increase in input costs it is a difficult time for dairy farmers but hopefully the event will give some a well deserved day off from the business (between milkings), and a chance to speak to processors and suppliers to their business. We have specific packages available for dairy farmers which address their individual sector needs so come along and visit us on the Stand on 16th October to find out more.

I have been speaking at a couple of Young Entrant Support Scheme evenings arranged by Menter a Busnes on what to consider when making changes to your business structure in terms of the practicalities, financial implications and legal issues that may be relevant. It was fantastic to have a full room at both the Newtown and Haverfordwest evenings signalling that there will again this year a high take up of the YESS scheme.