Rural News: The Rock Review

Baroness Kate Rock has recently presented the Tenancy Working Group findings. The review was called to consider how tenant farmers could have access to and flexibility within new government funding programmes and to consider more long-term adjustments needed to guarantee a strong, prosperous, and agricultural-tenanted sector.

With roughly a third of farmed land in England being tenanted, tenant farmers are vital to the nation’s food production alongside the delivery of environmental outcomes.

Baroness Rock praised the dedication of the country’s tenant farmers and the crucial role that they play within the country’s agricultural future; “Tenant farmers must therefore be properly integrated into the Future Farming policy, the design of all future schemes and supported for long-term resilience of the sector. They are, and must remain, a crucial part of the future agricultural and land management landscape.”

The review discovered the following concerns after consulting tenant farmers, landlords, land agents and other organisations on the problems affecting the tenanted sector:

• improving the tenant-landlord relationship

• ensuring the growth and viability of businesses in the tenanted sector

• preventing tenant farmers from going bankrupt

• minimising the loss of land from the tenanted sector

• reducing scheme complexity and ensuring flexibility and access for tenants

• public support for permanent land use changes, including tree planting and the creation of habitats

There needs to be better management and coordination of land usage in England. The House of Lords Committee on Land Use's findings will hopefully show how tenant farmers will be included in the Land Use Framework when it is released in 2023.

The full review can be accessed on http://bit.ly/3AcCEir.

If you are a tenant farmer and would like to speak to our rural team regarding this or any other matters relating to your farming business, contact your local youngsRPS office or visit www.youngsrps.com