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. 

Rain again!

It is pouring down here at Henllan, you would not believe that it was the middle of August. Apparently there is some talk of a 'heat wave' next week but not sure I can believe that the way the weather is today. In spite of the weather, the builders are working in the rain, with the roof trusses going on  the second barn today. We have finalised the choice of windows and doors and are starting to plan what is going inside which is exciting. We need to start thinking about a name for the new office and so if anyone has any suggestions please let us know.

Almost time .......

It is the Friday before the Royal Welsh show and as yet there are no bags packed, the caravan is still in storage and needs cleaning inside and out and still no silage! Its normally a rush to get things ready to take up but this year is set to be the most disorganised yet given that we have spent most of the last week in hospital with Llyr who has had appendicitis. Thankfully he is now better and came out of hospital yesterday but all our plans for this week had to be put on hold. It is dry today but the land is so wet it is unlikely we will be able to attempt silage until next week either.

The plan for this weekend had been to go to the CLA Game Fair this Sunday but unfortunately that also has been affected by the weather. Cothi Shears today and Capeli Shears tomorrow are still going ahead in spite of weather and have managed to ensure that they have sufficient dry lambs for the shearers. It will be interesting to see who from the Welsh and New Zealand teams come out on top this year in their competitions and good luck to all the local shearers competing in both events.

The Royal Welsh Show is once again jam packed with events and things to see and do. More than anything else I enjoy the chance to meet up with people that I haven't seen for a while  - sometimes not having seen them since last year's Show. We will be launching our Agri Advisor training courses for farmers at the Show. For more details please have a look at our website at  http://www.agriadvisor.co.uk/tools-and-training . Increasingly we as farmers have to abide by rules and regulations and the law has becoming more and more relevant to how we conduct our day to day farming business. The courses we will be running  from September to help farmers spot legal issues and discuss simple ways in which legal disputes can be avoided. Also, there will be a course on how to attack the forms and record keeping that is required of farmers in the most efficient and user friendly ways.

Throughout August we are also going to be offering a special offer for the preparation of Powers of Attorney. Powers of Attorney can provide authority for someone else to deal with your financial and/or care requirements when you are no longer able to do so yourself. If you would like to find out more about this offer please give us a ring on 01558 841550 or email us on advisor@agriadvisor.co.uk. There will also be more details in our July newsletter which can be found at www.agriadvisor.co.uk/chewingthecud

The barns are also making swift progress with the roof on the first barn starting to be retiled today. See for yourself below