NFU tenants forum chair Chris Cardell said: “Agricultural tenants and tenanted land have a vital role in delivering this government’s food production and environmental ambitions, and in growing our rural economies. As the review stresses, and as the NFU has long argued, landlords and tenants should be working together as equal partners to achieve this.
“With over 60% of England’s farmed area being farmed by tenants, they play a pivotal role in producing food for the nation and looking after our environment. That is why it is important that agricultural land in the tenanted sector is protected and any loss minimised by ensuring that the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) is accessible and relevant to both tenants and landlords.
“The NFU agrees with Baroness Rock’s Review that county council farm estates should be a key entry point for next generation farmers. The report is also right to urge Defra and regulators to ‘tenant-proof’ their schemes, policies and processes, ensuring they are a benefit to all farmers, including tenant farmers, and therefore wider food production and environmental protection.
“Any comprehensive review will throw up differences of opinion and the NFU tenants forum will now examine the recommendations in detail. The NFU urges Ministers to respond swiftly so that together we can grow a more vibrant, accessible and resilient tenanted farming sector.”
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Notes to editor:
- The independent Tenancy Working Group, chaired by Baroness Kate Rock, was established to identify and address concerns for the tenanted sector through the delivery of Environmental Land Management (ELM) and ongoing sector sustainability.
- The Rock Review and recommendations can be viewed here.