Cereals 2012: Call for new farming land contracts
New entrants in farming could be significantly helped if freedom of contracts replaced the traditional landlord/tenant structure so land could be traded more openly, according to Harry Cotterill, president of the CLA.
Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference debate at Cereals today, Mr Cotterill called for an industry much more focused on mainstream business principles and driven by the market.
“The current land tenure is so unfit for purpose. The occupation of land needs to
be traded more freely so that the industry can operate more smoothly.,” he said.
“I have plenty of members who don’t want to farm and there are plenty of people who do. Too much land is tied up with people who aren’t doing the job as well as they should be. If you had freedom of contract it would free up land. The solution lies in old farmers moving on. “
Mr Cotterill, a Herefordshire farmer, is more optimistic about the future of farming than he has ever been but he warned that major change was coming.
He believes there will be fewer, bigger farm businesses that will be leaner, more efficient and very focused on profit.
These enterprises will be driven by the market and will exploit diversification opportunities.
They will also need to pay employees more and incentivize staff for continual professional development.
“These businesses will have multi million pound turnovers and will not necessarily be tied to families as they currently are. They will be bought and sold by other businesses in the wider world and will need the highest calibre of management, expert advice and have the latest technology to succeed.
“It will be a restructured agricultural industry that delivers an open shop and attracts the best brains. It will be a less traditional model than we are used to,” he said.
Dr David Llewellyn, principal of Harper Adams, agreed that new solutions were needed to help young people into agricultural careers because the barriers to entry around capital and land issues often felt insurmountable.
Teachers were key to motivating the brightest young people into the industry but many had a negative attitude towards farming.
Dr Llewellyn called for television advertising to promote positive messages and warned that the industry was competing against other industries all trying to recruit the most intelligent graduates.
Farmer Adam Metcalfe, of AWSM Farms, is a young entrant who was able to break into farming by renting just 40 acres and now has 5300 acres plus a contracting business.
He said his greatest challenge was cashflow and that banks were increasingly cautious to lend to young people with no security or experience behind them.
For more on this topic
See our Cereals 2012 event page
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