Time to think anew about land tenure, says NFU

It is time for the industry to let go of polarising arguments and focus on creating a thriving tenanted sector with secure opportunities for young and new entrants to agriculture, said NFU Scotland at a seminar it hosted in Edinburgh today.

Scotland’s leading farming and crofting body brought together representatives from all parts of the industry, as well as land tenure experts and politicians to lay out a vision for land tenure in 2020. The Union urged interested parties to put aside well-worn arguments and examine anew the ways in which all parts of the industry can work together for the good of the tenanted farming sector in Scotland.

NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller, who chaired the event said: “Land tenure in Scotland is the product of history, changing communities and ever-increasing economic pressure on the rural economy.

“Political interventions have sought to balance tensions within the sector and provide a platform for sustainable farming. There are many successful tenant farming businesses, but a complex mix of drivers have created a growing divergence of tenancy vehicles.

“As a result, our ring-fenced, traditional tenanted sector increasingly operates in a climate of short-termism, which is inhibiting investment and new entrants to farming.

“Today’s seminar is about the future; it is not about tuning today’s operating environment but creating a blueprint for aspiring farmers in their twenties and thirties. If we are to move to a more collaborative era we, in the rural sector, must embrace change and drive it.

“We need to start exploring areas like share-farming, rent for reconstruction, freedom of contract and other devices. These were all on the agenda today and could be the basis for creating new opportunities in Scotland’s land tenure system.”