The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Encouraging tenant investment
A modern list of farm improvements that are elegible for compensation when a tenant leaves the holding has been drawn up.
It is almost 60 years since the last register was made and the tenant farming commissioner Bob McIntosh said it was time to catch up with modern agriculture by updating Schedule 5 of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 1991 which sets out a list of improvements that may be eligible for compensation at the end of a tenancy.
“If tenants are to be encouraged to invest in a holding it is important that the list of improvements eligible for compensation is regularly updated to keep pace with changing technology and agricultural practices,” he said.
He has also recommended that the list is reviewed regularly and any accepted changes be made relatively quickly.
The recommendations cover all modern improvements including works to farm houses and cottages, slurry stores, silage pits, equipment to mitigate pollution, and provisions for the use of renewable energy on farms.
In addition to the physical fixed equipment of the holding, the recommendations include provisions for any permissions, consent, contracts and restrictions (quotas) that the tenant may have acquired.
The Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) welcomed the recommendations and said there was clear agreement from all stakeholders that obvious omissions needed to be addressed.
STFA chairman Christopher Nicholson added: “It would appear that all improvements relating to modern agriculture are covered by the recommendations, but it is important to recognise that modern technologies on farms are changing rapidly, and if the tenanted sector is to keep up to date then Schedule 5 will require reviewing on a regular basis.”
The updated list will not be retrospective so will not apply to the current amnesty for tenant’s improvements.
However Mr Nicholson said there was strong evidence to show that many landlords were willing to include modern improvements such as slurry towers into amnesty agreements.