Agriculture & Farming

Keep holding registers for livestock

Legal requirements for recording livestock identification, movements, births, deaths, and annual inventories. Covers cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and deer with species-specific deadlines and retention periods.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Meet cattle welfare requirements

Legal welfare requirements for keeping cattle in England, covering the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007. Includes the five welfare needs, housing standards, permitted procedures (disbudding, castration), transport rules, and inspection requirements.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Register land to keep livestock

How to obtain a County Parish Holding (CPH) number before keeping cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, or poultry. Includes registration process, required information, and herd/flock mark allocation.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Comply with Farming Rules for Water

How to comply with the 8 Farming Rules for Water that apply to all farmers in England. Covers planning fertiliser applications, soil testing requirements, buffer zones near water, prohibited spreading conditions, manure storage, livestock management, soil erosion prevention, and enforcement by the Environment Agency.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Farm machinery safety

Legal requirements and practical guidance for safe use of farm machinery. Covers PUWER and LOLER compliance, tractor safety, PTO guarding, telehandlers, ATVs, combine harvesters, maintenance requirements, young worker restrictions, and record keeping.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Join the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway

How to join the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, a government programme that funds annual vet reviews and endemic disease follow-ups for livestock keepers in England. Covers eligibility, payment rates by species, and how to book and claim.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Keep children safe on farms

Legal requirements and practical guidance for protecting children on farms. Covers age restrictions for farm work and machinery, prohibited activities for under-13s and 13-16 year olds, safe play areas, visitor safety, and what family farms must do to keep children safe from workplace hazards.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Meet pig welfare requirements on your farm

Legal requirements for pig welfare in England. Covers the five welfare needs, space requirements, environmental enrichment, permitted procedures, housing standards, transport, slaughter, and record-keeping. Applies to all pig keepers including commercial farms and smallholders.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Meet sheep welfare requirements on your farm

How to meet your legal obligations for sheep welfare in the UK. Covers the Five Welfare Needs, housing and shelter, lambing management, permitted procedures (tail docking, castration), shearing, foot care, feeding, transport, record keeping, and scrapie monitoring. Essential for anyone keeping sheep commercially or as a smallholder.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Prepare for farm inspections and audits

How to prepare for regulatory inspections and farm assurance audits. Covers which bodies inspect farms, what triggers inspections, your rights during visits, and how to build a good compliance track record that can reduce inspection frequency.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Slurry and silage storage compliance (SSAFO)

How to comply with SSAFO regulations for storing silage, slurry, and agricultural fuel oil on farms. Covers construction standards, storage capacity requirements, notification procedures, exemptions for pre-1991 structures, and Environment Agency enforcement. Includes guidance for farms in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones where stricter storage requirements apply.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Access farming grants and capital funding

How to find and apply for government capital grants covering farm equipment, technology, infrastructure, and emergency recovery. Covers the Farming Investment Fund, Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, Farming Recovery Fund, and the closed Countryside Productivity scheme. Grant programmes change frequently so always check GOV.UK for current application rounds.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Deer management obligations in Scotland

Guide to deer management obligations in Scotland under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996, covering female deer close seasons (male close seasons were abolished in October 2023), authorisations for out-of-season and night shooting, deer management plans, crop damage provisions, and NatureScot control schemes.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Install renewable energy on your farm

How to get planning permission and financial support for solar panels, wind turbines, and other renewable energy on agricultural land. Covers permitted development limits, agricultural land classification, and the Smart Export Guarantee.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Prepare for the end of BPS delinked payments

What farmers need to know as delinked payments end in 2027. Covers payment reduction schedules (76% in 2025, 98% in 2026-2027), reference amount calculations, key dates, and how to replace lost income through Environmental Land Management schemes and other funding options.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier

How to apply for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) agreements in England. Covers invitation priorities, the 99 base and 33 supplemental actions, pre-application advice from Natural England, rolling applications from September 2025, and payment rates by category.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Compare ELM schemes to choose the right environmental funding

Comprehensive comparison of England's Environmental Land Management schemes - Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship (CS), and Landscape Recovery. Includes current status (SFI closed until 2026), payment rates, eligibility criteria, decision framework, and what to do if your SFI application was affected by the March 2025 closure.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

SFI closure and transition to future farming schemes

What the SFI closure means for farmers and how to plan for the transition. Covers what happens to existing agreements, options during the closure period, the reformed SFI 2026 offer, and alternative funding including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and Capital Grants. Essential guidance for farmers affected by the March 2025 SFI closure.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Understand Landscape Recovery funding for large-scale environmental projects

What Landscape Recovery is and whether it could suit your land. Covers the three-phase process (project development, implementation, land management), funding available (up to 500,000 development funding, 500 million total government commitment), current Round 1 and Round 2 projects, and the scheme's current closed-to-new-entrants status.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Meet your aquaculture and freshwater fishing duties

If you run a fish farm, shellfish farm, hatchery or recirculating aquaculture system, or fish freshwater commercially, you need authorisation from the Fish Health Inspectorate, the right marine or freshwater licences, and — for shellfish — classified production areas. This guide covers all the sector-specific licensing and consenting from aquaculture authorisation through to water abstraction for land-based farms.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Run a compliant forestry business

Whatever forestry work you do — growing, felling, haulage to roadside or tree surgery — the same core duties apply, and health and safety leads by a distance: forestry has one of the highest fatal-injury rates of any sector. Manage the high-hazard fieldwork, keep chainsaws and lifting equipment compliant with certificated operators, insure your employees including seasonal and contract workers, do not discriminate, and handle personal data lawfully.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Comply with farming environmental regulations

How to comply with environmental regulations for fertiliser storage and application, pesticide use, the baseline rules that replaced cross-compliance, and nutrient management planning. Covers Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, BASIS certification, hedgerow management rules, and RB209 nutrient planning.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Understand farm rules after cross-compliance ended

What environmental, animal health, and land management rules still apply to farms now that cross-compliance has ended. Explains how enforcement changed when cross-compliance ended on 31 December 2023 and which regulators are responsible for what.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Forestry operations, consents and timber rules

The consents and product rules for forestry work, by activity. Felling growing trees generally needs a felling licence with restocking conditions; larger afforestation, deforestation, forest roads and quarries need an Environmental Impact Assessment opinion first. Tree nurseries must register as professional plant-health operators and issue plant passports, and suppliers of forest seed and planting stock must register with the Forestry Commission. Marketing your own harvested timber makes you a UK Timber Regulation operator with due-diligence duties. Work on protected trees needs local planning authority consent, and professional pesticide use needs certificated operators.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Set up and run a safe fishing or aquaculture business

Whether you operate a fishing vessel, run a fish farm or harvest shellfish, you have shore-based duties that apply across the board. This is the universal spine for fishing and aquaculture businesses. It takes you through your general health and safety duty for premises and shore-based operations, fire safety for hatcheries, processing sheds, net stores and offices, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Recognise and report notifiable animal diseases

How to identify signs of notifiable diseases in livestock and report suspected cases to APHA. Covers bovine TB, avian influenza, foot-and-mouth, swine fever, and other notifiable diseases with immediate reporting requirements.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Meet bovine TB testing requirements for cattle

Comprehensive guide to bovine TB testing requirements for UK cattle farmers. Covers testing frequency by risk area (HRA, Edge, LRA), pre-movement testing (60 days validity, 30 for Scotland), post-movement testing (60-120 day window), reactor handling (10 working day removal), compensation system and reduction rules (up to 95% for non-compliance), movement restrictions during breakdowns, and record-keeping requirements. Includes geographic callouts for Wales and Scotland differences.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Forestry compliance checklist

A confirmation checklist for forestry and logging businesses. Work through the cross-cutting duties every forestry business shares, then the section for what you do — growing trees and nursery supply, felling and harvesting, selling timber, or forestry support and tree surgery.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Which forestry rules apply to your business

Forestry businesses — woodland managers, tree nurseries, felling and harvesting contractors, timber merchants and tree surgeons — answer to the Forestry Commission and its devolved counterparts for consents, HSE for one of the highest-hazard work environments in any sector, and a set of product and plant-health regimes for moving trees and marketing timber. What you must do depends on what you do: grow, fell, sell or support. Work out which you are and follow the right guide.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Meet your sea fishing vessel duties

If you operate a sea fishing vessel commercially, you must hold a fishing vessel licence, register the vessel and meet MCA safety requirements, and — if you buy or sell first-sale fish in England — register with the MMO. This guide covers all three duties.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Grow and sell crops: seed, spraying and certification

Arable and horticultural growers face rules at every stage of the crop cycle — certified seed if you market seed, certificates of competence for everyone who applies pesticides professionally, regular sprayer testing, and registration duties for vineyards and wine production. Water and nutrient rules sit alongside these and have their own guides.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Identify and tag sheep and goats

How to identify and tag sheep and goats correctly. Covers double EID tagging for breeding stock, batch tagging for animals going direct to slaughter under 12 months, tagging deadlines, and replacement rules for lost or damaged tags.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Run a shooting, game or wildlife management business

Shooting and game businesses are regulated through firearms certificates from the police, statutory close seasons for game birds and deer, and wildlife law that controls what may be killed or taken and how. Since 2007 no game licence or game dealer licence is needed in England and Wales, but releasing gamebirds on or near protected sites now needs a licence, and deer management runs on different rules in Scotland.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Commercial fishing licence and compliance

How to get a commercial fishing licence and comply with UK fishing regulations. Covers vessel licensing, quota allocation, catch recording, I-VMS requirements, and fish export certificates.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Navigate farm assurance schemes

Comparison of major UK farm assurance schemes including Red Tractor, RSPCA Assured, Soil Association Organic, and LEAF Marque. Covers membership costs, audit frequency, standards above statutory baseline, market access benefits, and overlap with statutory requirements. Includes decision framework for choosing schemes by farm type and market, and devolved nation schemes (QMS, FAWL).

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Set up equestrian or livery services on your farm

How to comply with VAT, licensing, and insurance requirements when offering livery, riding lessons, or equestrian facilities. Covers VAT treatment, riding establishment licensing, and specialist insurance needs.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Convert farm buildings to holiday accommodation

How to get planning permission, meet building regulations, and understand the post-April 2025 tax treatment when converting agricultural buildings to holiday lets. Covers Class Q permitted development, fire safety requirements, and the impact of FHL tax regime abolition on farm diversification.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Set up and run a compliant farm shop

How to register, comply with food safety, and handle VAT when selling produce directly from your farm. Covers food business registration, HACCP requirements, and VAT treatment of different products.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Set up camping or glamping on your farm

How to comply with planning permission, licensing, and safety requirements when offering camping or glamping on agricultural land. Covers the 60-day exemption, caravan site licensing, and glamping-specific regulations.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Ecology survey requirements for construction in Scotland

When you need ecological surveys for construction and development projects in Scotland, what types of survey are required, seasonal timing constraints, and how survey results feed into NatureScot licensing and the planning process.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Which farming rules apply to your business

Farming is regulated by what you produce and where you farm. Livestock keepers register land and animals before anything moves; arable and horticultural growers face seed, spraying and water rules; every farm in England now answers to the rules that replaced cross-compliance. Work out which farm type fits your business below, then follow the matching guidance.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.

Apply for a species licence from NatureScot

How to apply for a NatureScot species licence when your business activities could affect protected species in Scotland. Covers European Protected Species licences, the three derogation tests, application process, and what happens if you proceed without a licence.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Invasive species obligations in Scotland

Your legal obligations regarding invasive non-native species in Scotland. Covers criminal offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Schedule 9 species, Japanese knotweed management, and NatureScot's species control orders.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Host weddings and events on your farm

How to set up and run a farm wedding or event venue. Covers planning permission, licensing, fire safety, insurance, and food safety requirements for converting agricultural buildings to event spaces.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Manage access land and SSSIs on your property

Understand your obligations as a landowner of open access land or Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Covers right to roam, reduced liability, temporary closures, SSSI consent requirements, and penalties for non-compliance.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Managing land within an SSSI in Scotland

Your legal obligations when you own, occupy, or manage land within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Scotland. Covers Operations Requiring Consent, NatureScot's enforcement powers, management agreement payments, and what happens if you damage SSSI features.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Wildlife management and muirburn licensing in Scotland

How the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 changes wildlife management practices in Scotland. Covers the new muirburn licensing regime, trap and snare reforms, glue trap ban, and general licences for bird control.

Relevant across several parts of this sector.

Biocides and Pesticides Authorisation

Get HSE CRD authorisation for biocidal and pesticidal products.

Relevant to a specific activity in this sector.