Share farming put to the test

Entry into farming does not necessarily mean buying or renting a property, said NFU Scotland, which is initiating a research project on the potential of share faming. The union believes this system would assist both new entrants and farm owners worried about succession.

Speaking after a New Generation committee meeting in Perth, NFU Scotland’s food policy and campaigns officer, Lindsey Macdonald, said: “We recently launched this project after it became clear that there were mutually beneficial issues among farmers and crofters at both ends of their career that had yet to be explored.

“On the one side, we have a generation of new and enthusiastic young farmers and crofters desperate to enter the industry and build their business; on the other side, we have a huge number of farm and croft owners reaching retirement age.

“They are looking to step back but with no willing family members to take over and a fear that the only choice they have is to sell the farm they’ve spent their whole lives building up.”

Macdonald added, “We realised there’s a unique opportunity to tap into this and match new entrants with farm owners via share farming. Share farming is an arrangement in which the new entrant and the farm owner carry out separate farming businesses on the same land with one party providing the land and often the machinery and the other providing the labour and expertise, while both share the profits.

“Each arrangement will be different according to the parties involved but this is an exciting opportunity for new entrants and farm owners alike to mutually benefit one another.”