Informative article found on the Smallholder Magazine's web site
The first thing everyone starting out in smallholding does is try to find a suitable piece of land that will hopefully fulfil all their needs and dreams.
Some of the best people to do this are the auctioneers who operate the livestock markets in rural towns, who usually have a department, which deals with the sales of farms.
Many hopeful landowners will suffer periods of disenchantment whilst struggling to locate their little piece of the countryside but perseverance will pay off and a fantastic journey of enlightenment, laughter, tears but ultimately contentment will begin.
Organisations Before embarking on any enterprise with your new found land it is necessary to contact a number of organisations in order to register as an Agricultural holding, obtain Herd / Flock numbers etc. Many of these organisations have helpline numbers where you can obtain a multitude of information, much of this can be overpowering for the newcomer but taken in easy steps can easily be dealt with.
Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs - DEFRA DEFRA have overall responsibility for all matters dealing with farming. They provide numerous information booklets relating to animal welfare, condition scoring, housing etc.
The easiest way to gain information from DEFRA is to contact the helpline on 0845 9335577. There are a number of departments within DEFRA that you will come into contact with, the most important of these are listed below.
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