The Tenant Farmers Association has warned that we are in danger of losing the impetus for the establishment of a sustainable future for upland areas in England.
TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn said, "Last year’s report from the Commission for Rural Communities, ’High Ground, High Potential’ set out a broad, intelligent and forward looking agenda for the upland areas of England having taken care to harvest a wide range of views from those individuals who live in, work in and manage these fragile but important areas of our country. More recently the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons pressed the Government to implement an action plan for the delivery of the objectives set out in the CRC report. It is clear from the Government’s response to the Select Committee report issued today that having abolished the CRC it has little intention other than to pay lip service to the real needs of upland, farming communities".
"The CRC and the Select Committee agree with the TFA that the cornerstone of the upland economy must be agriculture and that ways need to be found to sustain breeding livestock on upland farms. In this context, the TFA was pleased that the Select Committee also agreed with the TFA that the Government should reconsider the potential for the reintroduction of some form of headage-based payment for breeding livestock within certain constraints. Since full decoupling of agricultural support in 2005 the market has consistently failed to deliver a sufficient return to the livestock breeder which has accelerated the decline of breeding flocks and herds in upland areas. Ideologically and in an out of hand way, DEFRA has dismissed the idea of considering headage payments without identifying what could be done instead. The slavish hope in the market has proved fruitless to date and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future," said Mr Dunn.
"Income from diversification and ecosystem services will contribute to the livelihoods of some but it is important to bear in mind that over half the land involved in upland agriculture will be farmed by tenants or other individuals who do not own the land they farm. The means to produce public goods and other services such as sport, forestry, landscape enhancement, minerals, renewable energy, water management and carbon sequestration tend to be controlled by land owners and it is difficult to ensure that tenants are provided with a fair reward from these activities. It is also crucial to understand that tenants do not have collateral. Increasingly, as secure tenancies under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 end, many tenants are working on short term FBT’s which deter essential investment in infrastructure. That infrastructure has in the past been provided by landlords but in recent years it would be hard to find an estate in the hills where there has been any meaningful landlord’s investment," said Mr Dunn.
"There remain some fundamental issues which need to be addressed and which go beyond the scope of the two main planks of DEFRA’s policy for upland agriculture of promoting uptake of Uplands ELS and enhancing the reach of broadband communications. We are in very real danger of having yet another report on the uplands gathering dust on the shelves in Whitehall without ever properly being implemented," said Mr Dunn.