East Yorkshire farmer wins YAS scholarship

Analysing the influence and flow of money from institutions into land purchase and active farm management across the world is the subject of a forth coming study by an East Yorkshire arable farmer.

Mark Falkingham has been chosen as the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Nuffield Scholar for 2011 and plans to use his studies to assess whether global investments create opportunities or threats for UK farmers.

Mr Falkingham explained: "In recent years UK farmland values and returns have generally increased, and so has the influx of institutional money. However, this is dwarfed by the amount going into agricultural land in developing countries in South America, Eastern Europe and the former USSR. For example, one company now owns and farms more than a million hectares in South America."

He continued: "Commercial judgement underpins most of my farming decisions, and I hope to gain first hand experience and global knowledge of this investment phenomenon. This would then give me a better understanding of the backdrop to the commerciality of world farming and ultimately help inform my decisions as a farmer here in East Yorkshire."

During the year Mr Falkingham hopes to visit farming enterprises and conferences in Brazil and Argentina, as well as Europe, former Eastern bloc countries, and land agents and institutions in the UK. His first port of call will be Wellington, New Zealand, where he will meet international Nuffield scholars at a five day agricultural conference, and also visit large scale farms. "One of the key benefits of the New Zealand visit will be to meet and exchange ideas with Nuffield scholars from around the world and across the farming spectrum."

Mr Falkingham, 42, farms 320 hectares near Howden as part of the family business where the main activity is growing wheat, oilseed rape and vining peas for Birds Eye. Following a degree in agriculture from Newcastle University, Mr Falkingham started his working life as a trader with Cargill plc before joining the family farming enterprise. He is married – he and his wife Julie have two sons.