Union urges more help for those on starter farm tenancies

The farming industr y is in danger of losing experienced, enthusiastic and capable young people who have been given the opportunity to get their foot on the farming ladder – only t o f i nd t here i s no next rung for them to progress to when their starter farm leases come to an end.

Both NFU Scotland and the Scottish Tenant Farmi ng Association ( STFA) have been keen advocates of t he S cottish Government’s attempts to make l a n d o wned b y p u b l i c bodies available as small starter farms on limited duration leases to allow new entrants to get a start in the industry.

However, this week saw both organisations call for further moves which would hel p t hose who have gained experience of the industr y progress after their initial leases had ended.

“NFU Scotland recognises that in many ways the farming ladder is broken,” said Andrew Mccornick, NFU Scotland president.

Claiming that the Land Reform ( S c ot l and) Act 2016 had failed to deliver a healthy and vibrant t enancy sector, he said the chronic shortage of o p p o r t uni t i e s ha d l e f t many, including the starter farmers and developing businesses, without viable options to progress within the industry. The STFA agreed further fiscal change was needed to encourage more land onto t he market, pointing to the success of tax changes introduced in Ireland in 2015 which had resulted in a significant increase in longer term leases.

However, t he association’s chairman, Christopher Nicholson, was defensive of the Land Act legislation, stating that many of the measures included aimed at addressing the lack of land had yet to be brought into effect.