PLANTING THE SEEDS The make-up of our farming industry has a
huge impact on the appearance and operation of the countryside. Multinational companies, vast estates and large-scale contractors adopt a different approach from small family busi- nesses; their practices can have an adverse impact on the landscape, on employment, on services and on biodiversity. The bottom rungs of the old wobbly ladder
once allowed a progression from farmworker to tenant farmer and ultimately to owner-oc- cupier. Experience could be gained and capital built on the way up, before any huge invest- ment in land was contemplated. Tenants have always been vulnerable to the vagaries of land- lords and it wasn’t until the Second World War, when the Government and a hungry popula- tion learned to appreciate the value of tenant farmers, that they were finally granted the legal security they required in order to invest and treat the land as their own. The passing of the 1948 Act (last updated in 1991) meant the right to farm the land could be inherited by succes- sive generations. That security of knowing the value of any improvements could be passed on gave tenants an incentive to nurture and improve the soil, to build new sheds, drain land and build secure fences. ‘Live as though you’ll die tomorrow but
farm as though you’ll live forever,’ became the motto. And it still holds today for families who are fortunate enough to have a secure, herita- ble lease. But the system has been broken for some
time. No modern landowner would contem- plate tying up his land by granting a ‘traditional’ heritable tenancy today and lairds openly admit they are increasingly nervous of granting even short- or limited-duration tenancies. The clear indications are that, without major polit- ical intervention, tenant and family farming will wither still further in Scotland, and with it the input and ambition of a disenfranchised generation. I’ve met capable young people who say
they’d been prepared to live in houses that are unfit for animals, if only they could secure a short
tenancy. But the demand from estab-
YOURVIEW DO YOU HAVE
STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS? EMAIL EDITOR@
SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK
lished businesses for farmland puts the rents of even the poorest properties beyond commer- cial rates and closes the door to newcomers. A determined 28-year-old told me how he begged and borrowed stony corners of fields or obso- lete old sheds so he could rear a few goats and gratefully repaid the farmer by labour- ing or driving tractors or combines, while also holding down a full-time job and looking after his own animals. It can’t be right that we require well-educated, motivated and highly trained people to clutch
at straws like these. At a time when Scotland’s food industry is crying out for more quality produce – and when a wider world is hungry – we can’t afford to turn away a whole genera- tion because an outdated system prevents them from finding a foothold. Successive govern- ments have acknowledged the problem and occasionally landlord and tenant representa- tives have even been forced into liaison talks, but it’s a bit like the Middle East peace process; no one ever really expects to find a solution to the deep-seated divide.
Time for a new ladder A few scraps have been thrown to the land-hun- gry in the past couple of years, with the letting of a few ‘starter’ farms on Forestry Commis- sion land. Even though the leases are just for ten years and the poor quantity of land avail- able requires tenants to supplement their income, there’s been heavy competition for each unit. Meanwhile a £2 million fund to help new entrants has been rolled out, Scotland’s Rural College is running workshops on getting started in farming and the reformed Common Agricultural Policy will offer subsidy support to new entrants from 2015. But all that is pointless if the farmland isn’t
forthcoming, if it’s being secreted away in huge chunks by nervous landowners who are taking land back ‘in hand’ at every opportunity. Of the 6,500 secure tenancies that are believed to exist in Scotland, around 100 are being lost every year because farmers reach retirement age and don’t have a family member who’s quali- fied or able to take over their tenancy and they are barred from passing it on to anyone else. This year a Scottish Government Review
Group was charged with figuring out how to build a successful tenanted sector. It’s currently taking evidence and will report later this summer. And while the ideas being presented are
ambitious and the rhetoric is powerful, there are strong forces working against reform. It doesn’t help that the legislation is notoriously complex or that tenants are historically nervous of raising their heads above the parapet. But if we’re going to give people access to
Scotland’s land and natural resources we need to rise above historical barriers. The United Nations recognises the role of the family farm in reducing poverty and improving global food security, and work is going on around the world to promote and pave the way for more small- scale agriculture. Scotland must not be left trailing in the dust
with a broken down, disinterested system. The solutions lie with robust tenancy reform and the construction of a brand new ladder.
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220