A morning at Meon Springs - where the future of farming is happening

Spend a morning with the family who turned a Hampshire dairy farm into a multi-million pound business. Practical sessions. Barbecue lunch. Why come Meon Springs is one of the most successful diversified farms in the South of England. A 1,100-acre dairy farm that now also runs a stillwater trout fishery, a yurt village, shepherd's huts, corporate retreats for the likes of Unilever and the NHS, secure self-storage, clay shooting, and a renewables programme that has cut grid reliance to a fraction of what it was. It didn't happen by accident. Jamie Butler will walk you through how he and his brother built it - what worked, what didn't, what they would do differently, and what they are working on next. You will not get this anywhere else. Around that, two of the conversations every farming family is having right now: how to get serious about renewables, and how to plan a farm and family business through APR changes, succession, and the questions that derail farming families when nobody planned for them. Most law firms see a farmer and think wills and land. We see a business - with contracts to negotiate, income streams to protect, structures to build, and a succession to plan. That changes the advice you get. What you will leave with A clear picture of what diversification can actually look like when it is done well, from someone who has built it. Practical insight into solar, succession and the commercial realities of running a modern farm business. A grounded, plain-English view of where farming families stand under the new APR and BPR rules, and the planning options still available. A feel for the Steele Raymond difference. Most law firms see a farmer and think wills and land. We see a business, which changes the advice you get. A barbecue lunch in one of the most beautiful settings in Hampshire, with strawberries and cream to follow, and time to talk ideas through with Jamie, Prostar, our team and each other. The morning 10:00 · Arrival Tea, coffee, and the chance to meet other farming families before we start. 10:15 · Welcome Brief introductions from Steele Raymond and Prostar Energy. 10:30 · Renewable energy on the farm - what works, what doesn't Prostar Energy on solar, ground mounts, battery storage and grid independence. Practical, costed, and based on years of working with farms across the South. Bring your questions. 11:15 · Whitewool Farm - the diversification story Jamie walks you through how the farm became what it is today. The yurts, the fishery, the corporate work, the storage business, the renewables. What he learned, what he would do differently, and what he is planning next. There will be time for questions. 12:15 · Protecting the farm, the family and the future Most law firms see a farmer and think wills and land. Steele Raymond sees a business. The session will cover succession and the APR and BPR changes - and range across the contracts, structures, agreements and commercial questions that come with running a diversified farm in 2026. Whatever you are dealing with - a new income stream, a partnership that needs updating, a succession that keeps getting put off - bring the question. There will be time for discussion and the team will be available for one-to-one conversations over lunch. 13:15 · Farm walk Jamie takes us round the farm - the solar installation, the diversified buildings, the fishery, the yurts. See it in person. 13:45 · Barbecue lunch Followed by strawberries and cream. Stay as long as you like. 14:30 · Departures Who should come Farming families and rural landowners across Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and the wider South. Bring whoever needs to be part of the conversation - partners, adult children, business partners. The whole point is that these decisions work best when the right people are in the room together. A word on Prostar Energy Prostar have been working with farms across the South for years - on big barn installations, ground mounts, battery storage and everything in between. They know what works, what doesn't, and what the numbers actually look like for a working farm. Their team will be on hand throughout the day for one-to-one conversations. A word on Steele Raymond We work with farming families and rural businesses across the South. Most law firms see a farmer and think wills and land. We see a business. A farm diversifying into glamping needs contracts, planning advice and the right commercial structure. A farm passing to the next generation needs tax planning, succession strategy and family agreements that hold. A farm selling land or bringing in investors needs corporate and commercial support that understands what the land means beyond the numbers. Whatever the question, we cover it - because we treat the farm as the business it has become. We are not a stuffy rural law firm, and we don't pretend to be one. Come and meet us. A word on Meon Springs Meon Springs is a working dairy farm at Whitewool in the Hampshire South Downs. It is also one of the most thoughtful and successful examples of farm diversification in the country. It is worth the drive on its own. Free to attend - spaces limited We are keeping numbers deliberately small so the conversations work. Please book early.