David Watson
Partner, Agriculture & Environment
With over three decades of hands experience in farming and estate management, David is the perfect person to consult on your farming operations.
With over three decades of hands experience in farming and estate management, David is the perfect person to consult on your farming operations.
Using this knowledge and skills, David advises his clients on the shift in the farming industry’s production of commodity food crops to a new role that incorporates food production whilst enhancing the environment.
The UK’s Environment Plan and Farming Transition Plan are fuelling proactive and innovative thinking with the farming sector.
David’s background is as an early adopter of techniques that are now becoming common place, and that combine profitable farm management with good environmental practice.
As Chairman of the Commercial Farmers Group, who nudge government policy makers and influencers in ways other organisations can’t in order to improve the industry, David’s knowledge and experience are an asset to those he works with.
Review of The Sustainable Farming Incentive
Announcements on the next set of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) Actions are long overdue, with some future Actions yet to be confirmed. However, the recent release of the 2023 SFI Handbook is very welcome as it offers land managers a more flexible and simplified opportunity to receive payments.
Rural Spectator: Poultry Unit Investment
Over the last five years, there has been considerable investment by farmers into poultry units, both for free range eggs and broiler chicken production. Whilst the investment is very high, between £1m - £3m, the returns have been good. This has been driven by an increasing demand for free range eggs, the majority of supermarkets declaring that they will not stock eggs produced from caged hens post-2025, and what appears to be an ever-increasing consumer demand for chicken.