Wannabes likely to remain just that
There was a great enthusiasms whipped up a few years ago for putting some of the rungs back on the farming ladder to give those from outside the industry the opportunity to get gain a foothold.
Realising that a fair amount of land was held by several quangos, the Scottish Government decided to encourage these organisations to lead the way by making some of these small, often undercapitalised units available to wannabe farmers.
The plan was that after spending a few years on one of these “starter” farms, the by then not-so-new entrants would have built up sufficient capital and experience to pick up other tenancies. And by starting the trend in the state sector it was hoped that other landowners would be encouraged to follow suit and widen the opportunities for those keen to get into the industry.
The ten year limited duration tenancy (LDT)was the vehicle used to provide this opportunity - and a handful of such units were made available by the then Forestry Commission from their extensive land bank.
And while some might have questioned the move, pointing out that there are no similar schemes for starter shops, starter factories or starter garages, the industry as a whole welcomed the move - recognising that new blood brings new ideas and the sort of can-do attitude which would serve the farming sector as a whole well.
However a bit of a heartfelt plea was issued last week by one of the first new entrants to be successful in gaining such a rental agreement.
For, seven years down the line - and with the heart, soul and body of the young
farming family invested in developing the unit - the end of the tenancy is now looming on the horizon.
Sadly, though, the next step in the mythical ladder seems almost as far out of reach as the first.
An extension to the tenancy has apparently been turned down, while the opportunities to gain a follow-on lease on another unit at anything approaching a commercially viable rate remain just as elusive as getting that first step on the ladder.
The quango which has now evolved into Forestry and Land Scotland doubtless has every justification for sticking to its intention to hand the unit over to another starter farmer at the end of the fixedterm lease. However this approach stands somewhat uneasily alongside the recent intervention by the Scottish Land Commission – itself another quango – which helped a tenant on a private estate who was also on a LDT remain on his farm until retirement.
But what the pragmatic approach of sticking to the agreement and handing the farm on to the next aspiring entrant fails to recognise is the deep psychological attachment which comes with working the land, one which goes beyond mere occupation or ownership.
And I suspect that there is a widespread lack of appreciation of this attachment – and that this often lies at the heart of many of the seemingly intractable problems in the tenanted sector.
The absence of this understanding was abundantly clear in the recent call for a total rethink of Scotland’s agricultural holdings legislation made by law lord Brian Gill - when he proposed ditching the underlying assumptions of existing legislation and re-booting it with a hard-boiled commercial approach which reflected practices in other sectors of industry and revolved around a freedom of contract between the parties.
I also suspect a lack of comprehension of the importance of this area accounts for many of the actions of the land agents who have recently taken over the traditional factoring role on many estates around the country, and which has led to the vilification of the profession.
For even the “few bad apples” identified as being responsible for giving that occupation a bad name tended to attract criticism as much for their lack of tact and sympathy as much as any other misdemeanour.
And while rent negotiations might have been viewed as a hard-boiled business transaction carried out for a client on one side, on the tenants it was often viewed as a direct and arrogant attack on the home, the work and lives of a family enterprise, often over several generations.
Last week’s guidance on the conduct expected from land agents, published by the Scottish Land Commission, does advise that practitioners should treat others with respect and sensitivity – but there’s still a long way to go to convey just how emotive an area the attachment to land can be.