The money is the interest which accrues from the sum raised by the sale of Truro Agriculture House which has been loaned to the Addington Fund – it comes to about £2,500 annually and is returned to the NFU for use within the county.
This year it was used to enable students from Duchy College to attend the tenant’s conference and ideas are being sought for other worthwhile projects that could benefit from the fund. If you have any suggestions, please contact Cornwall county adviser Patrick Aubrey-Fletcher on 01579 550570.
Speaking at the conference NFU President Meurig Raymond said decisions by many local authorities to sell county farms were extremely worrying.
“Some very entrepreneurial farmers started their careers on a county farm and without that first tenancy they would not be farming today,” he said.
National tenants’ spokesman Chris Cardell welcomed calls for more land to be brought to the market place in order to encourage new entrants to the industry.
“We also need to ensure Farm Business Tenancies are used as they were originally designed – ‘template’ agreements are being taken off the shelf so we’re not getting the best use out of them.”