If Your Farm Is Worth £5 Million, What Is It Really Made Of?
A guide for farming families exploring the Mural Crown SAFO
A £5 million farm feels solid and familiar. Yet beneath the surface sits a network of assets that behaves less like a single property and more like the components of a large agricultural machine. Each part influences how the family manages tax, risk and control. Once a farm enters a Mural Crown SAFO, those parts can be rearranged with far greater clarity.
1. The land: the frame that supports everything
Most of the value usually sits in the soil itself. A farm in this range typically spans between 250 and 450 acres, depending on the region, drainage and productivity. Land sets the long-term direction because it shapes the farm’s economic future.
Inside a Mural Crown SAFO, land behaves like the frame of a heavy tractor. Everything else connects to it, yet it remains stable while the working parts move around it.
2. The farmhouse and cottages: valuable, yet tricky for tax
The primary residence and any smaller dwellings often fall between £800,000 and £1.5 million. These assets are primarily used for private purposes rather than trading activities. That creates challenges when building a BPR argument.
Many families prefer to keep the farmhouse outside the trading companies and allow the SAFO to focus on the genuine business activities. It protects the BPR position and avoids mixing lifestyle property with commercial risk.
3. Working buildings: the operational core
Barns, grain stores, cattle sheds and workshops might hold £400,000 to £900,000 of value. These structures control efficiency. They influence everything from feed routines to logistics for harvest.
Within the SAFO, these buildings fall into the trading company that reflects the core farm. Their presence strengthens the claim that the business is active rather than passive.
4. Machinery: the moving system that keeps the farm alive
Tractors, telehandlers, balers, harvesters and fertiliser kit can total £200,000 to £600,000. Their value declines rapidly, yet they shape day-to-day output. Farmers treat machinery with the same seriousness that hauliers apply to vehicles. If the machinery fails, the entire rhythm of the year comes to a halt.
The SAFO benefits from capital allowances on this equipment, helping reduce corporation tax inside the relevant trading subsidiary.
5. Livestock: the productive asset that gives the farm a pulse
Livestock often falls between £80,000 and £400,000, depending on herd size and breed. A dairy herd usually sits at the top. Each animal behaves like an income-producing asset. Once placed inside its own subsidiary, the herd provides clean accounts, better insurance management and more substantial BPR alignment.
EBITDA: Why A £5 million Farm Rarely Shows High Cash Profits
A farm may be capital-rich, yet EBITDA often stays modest. Commercial agriculture resembles long-term infrastructure. The land appreciates, while annual profit moves slowly.
Typical EBITDA ranges:
• Arable: £150,000 to £350,000
• Beef or sheep: £80,000 to £200,000
• Dairy: £250,000 to £600,000
These numbers are normal. The Mural Crown SAFO uses the structure, not the EBITDA level, to create the family’s long-term advantage.
The Real Advantage For Farmers: The SAFO Uses Separate Companies
This is the correction that matters most.
A farm trying to combine renewables, tourism, contracting and livestock inside one company takes on unnecessary risk. Each activity carries a different profile. Each attracts different lenders. Insurance requirements shift. Revenue cycles never align. One bad event in a diversified company can compromise the entire holding.
The Mural Crown SAFO addresses this issue through a straightforward rule.
Every activity sits in its own subsidiary company.
Why this matters
1. Risk containment
A claim arising from a holiday unit does not touch the landholding. A machinery-contracting incident cannot harm the livestock unit. A renewables failure cannot damage the arable business. Separation controls the spread of liability.
2. Clean financing routes
Different lenders prefer different risk patterns.
• Renewables funders want predictable feed-in tariffs and power agreements.
• Tourism lenders look at occupancy rates and refurbishment security.
• Agricultural lenders focus on crops, livestock and equipment.
By placing each activity in its own subsidiary, the SAFO presents clean balance sheets and clean assets. That increases funding choices and lowers interest pressure.
3. Stronger BPR profile
BPR requires trading intensity. When activities are situated within focused subsidiaries, the commercial activity becomes easier to evidence. The SAFO’s parent company oversees strategy, but the trading companies hold the operational substance.
4. Better governance for the next generation
Each subsidiary produces its own accounts. This allows younger family members to take responsibility for a defined business unit rather than a tangled collection of mixed activities. It gives them a more straightforward learning path.
5. More controlled growth planning
Growth shares can be issued into a family trust for each subsidiary. Freezer shares lock the founder’s estate value at the parent level. Future gains then flow into the trusts rather than inflating the founder’s personal estate.
How The Pieces Fit Together Inside A Mural Crown SAFO
Picture a farm as a large working vehicle with multiple specialised attachments. The SAFO becomes the control cabin.
• The parent company holds the Freezer shares, Growth shares and voting control.
• The arable subsidiary focuses on crops, machinery and storage.
• The livestock subsidiary manages the herd.
• The renewables subsidiary holds the solar or biomass assets.
• The tourism subsidiary handles holiday units or glamping.
• Any processing or retail venture sits in its own subsidiary.
Each company has its own insurance, governance and debt. Yet all report back to the SAFO. The family gains a professional organisation without losing the unity of the estate.
Why Families Below £50 Million Choose This Route
A traditional family office does not suit most farming families. It demands high running costs and layers of advisers that rarely match the scale of a family farm. The Mural Crown SAFO replaces this with a structure that fits real agricultural life. It gives the family institutional strength without turning the farm into a bureaucratic maze.
For farms with a value of around £5 - 50 million, this model creates a balance that is hard to achieve elsewhere.
• The land remains protected.
• Trading subsidiaries stay active enough to support BPR.
• Freezer shares cap the founder’s exposure.
• Growth flows to trusts and younger generations.
• Risk stays contained inside clean companies.
• Funding becomes easier to secure.
The result feels like moving from an ageing farm truck to a well-organised fleet. Each vehicle does its own job. The family directs the whole system.
