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Andrew Elsden - stories, tales , rural and social and business issues past and present as I see them.


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Look at the Winners
Protesting farmers just don't get it. They need to look at the winners.
Feb 186 min read
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Water - Wet and Dry
It is ironic that whilst typically being the driest area of the country in terms of rainfall the Fens of South Lincolnshire are also...
Dec 30, 202423 min read
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"Farmers can farm jam"
Recent events have reminded me of the words of Prime Minister Gladstone to struggling farmers in the 1880's. I will explain this further
Nov 23, 20245 min read
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Losers - Ag Property Relief on Inheritance Tax
In my last post on Inheritance tax I consider the losers and the loss of social structures and care that family businesses provide....
Nov 18, 20245 min read
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Inheritance Tax - The Experience
Here I explain the reality of inheritance tax . In 2007 I was outside my son’s school when I bumped into a local farmer – at least I...
Nov 17, 20243 min read
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Inheritance Tax “only the largest estates will be effected”.
Most farmers consider the statement a lie. Whether it is or not is to be proven. Here I examine a take on inheritance tax that may be a...
Nov 16, 20244 min read
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"Inheritance Tax will not affect Small Family Farms." What is a small family farm?
“Only the richest estates will pay – not small, family farms.” This is the repeated phrase parroted by the Chancellor and other Labour...
Nov 15, 20244 min read
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Farm Inheritance Tax Relief – It needed Reform but this is flawed.
My experience with Inheritance Tax and especially with Farm Inheritance Tax Relief is that it appears to be applied inconsistently and...
Nov 14, 20243 min read
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Farm Inheritance Tax - Not Just Land
In this second post I will demonstrate how inheritance tax can affect a tenant farmer by referring to a real life example from my past...
Nov 13, 20245 min read
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Business and Agricultural Property Relief Inheritance Tax Changes - email to my MP
In the Chancellor's Autumn budget of 2024 changes were made to Inheritance tax Relief that reduced this relief on the value of both...
Nov 12, 20249 min read
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Sidebar - 1876 Harvest Past - A Lesson from History?
Every so often I publish material that did not make the script of “Marsh Fen and Town”. The following is exactly 148 years ago and will...
Aug 22, 20249 min read
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Sidebar – The Importance of Rare Breeds……. And their farmers.
The value of both rare breeds and those maintaining them is vastly underappreciated to the detriment of our food security.
Aug 15, 20244 min read
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Sidebar - The Loss of the Cranberry in the Fens of Lincolshire
In this piece I look how drainage of the Fens for agriculture saw the loss of the cranberry in the Lincolnshire Fens.
Jul 20, 202412 min read
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The Courting of Agriculture by Fascists – a lesson from history.
In the 1930’s Oswald Mosely and his Fascists courted the farmers of East Anglia for their support. Perhaps as you read this you may...
Jan 29, 20244 min read
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NETHERLANDS FARMER’S PROTEST - NEDERLANDS BOERENPROTEST
“Twice as much food using half as many resources” was the ambitious aim of Dutch Agriculture. Indeed, you can see it being achieved and...
Jul 14, 20228 min read
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To Plough the Headland and be Damned
Today I read a tweet from a farmer on the Lincolnshire Wolds showing his uncultivated field margin with the words, "Great over winter...
Jan 13, 20222 min read
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WHAT ABOUT A SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE COUNTRYSIDE?
I am becoming very tired of all the people shouting about farming having to be sustainable and the countryside having to be managed...
Nov 7, 20214 min read
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Is the late Sir Richard Body the architect of current Conservative Agricultural policy in the UK?
As a teenager going to Spalding Grammar School I would often see our member of Parliament Richard Body walking near his house in Welland...
Jul 9, 20219 min read
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