Farmers Weekly Awards 2024: Lifetime Achievement

Jeremy Moody is the Farmers Weekly 2024 Awards Lifetime Achievement winner.

Jeremy has played a key role in shaping agricultural policy and law for over 30 years.

In his role as secretary and adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), he has influenced governments at all levels.

Everything from agricultural tenancies and CAP reform to taxation, planning, climate change, environmental issues and the development of post-Basic Payment Scheme support. 

See also: Farmers Weekly Awards 2024: The shortlist revealed

Born in Oxfordshire, the son of two teachers, he studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford before completing a land agency conversion course at Reading, and then working for Richard Carter Jonas.

He had a spell as policy adviser to the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), during which time he was a principal architect of what became the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995, which ushered in Farm Business Tenancies.

He then joined the CAAV, the professional body representing, briefing and qualifying those acting and advising on agricultural, rural property and business matters across the UK.

Often operating behind the scenes and away from the public eye, Jeremy always sees the bigger picture and takes the long view, an approach enabled by his vast knowledge of – and passion for – history. 

Shaping policy

According to chartered surveyor Julian Sayers, who chairs Defra’s Farm Tenancy Forum, Jeremy has been “pivotal” in producing guidance and technical information on a broad range of issues over the decades.

He has worked closely with Defra, HMRC, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Treasury, as well as the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies.

“He has helped shape government policies that affect the farming industry and has done so fairly, impartially and to the benefit of all concerned,” says Julian.

“He is one of those rare people who is hugely intelligent and knowledgeable, but also has the ability to communicate in a thorough yet concise and understandable manner.

“His ability to distil detailed technical and practical knowledge into concise advice is without equal.”

This is a characterisation recognised by the chief executive of the TFA, George Dunn.

“Jeremy has an immense capacity for involvement in a wide range of industry issues, both at a strategic and very detailed level, which sets him apart as a go-to individual when it comes to areas of policy development and implementation,” he says.

George says Jeremy has taken the CAAV to be the “leading body of thought and practice” when it comes to agricultural valuation and law, rural land and business management, and the taxation of rural land and business interests. 

“There will be few areas of domestic agricultural policy and practice that have been dominant over the past 40 years that Jeremy has not touched or influenced.

“Jeremy is an accomplished orator with an enviable ability to make the driest of topics come alive,” adds George.

“Anyone who has spent any time with him, even those who disagree with him, will come away informed, challenged, and with admiration for the breadth and depth of his knowledge and expertise.”

‘One of the greats’

Jeremy was awarded an honorary doctorate by Harper Adams University in 2008, and the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) made him an Honorary Fellow, its highest honour, last year.

The RAU’s head of employability and professional engagement, William Leschallas, commented: “To say that he is respected and knowledgeable is an understatement.

“He has been instrumental in teaching the young and briefing the already qualified, and has helped to shape many of the agricultural and other government policies that affect the rural sector over a quarter of a century.

“Most people sit in awe of his encyclopedic knowledge of the property world. He is one of the greats of our industry.”