Large-scale sale of prime Lincs arable land tests market

Restructuring by a family farming business sees a further significant block of prime arable land coming to the market in Lincolnshire next week.

The 685 acres of Grade 1 and 2 land at Morton Fen, Bourne, in the south of the county, will be on the market with Savills.

Sales of this scale are relatively rare in Lincolnshire and its launch comes just a week after the agent put on a big Grade 3 arable acreage in the same county, about 50 miles to the north.

See also: Large-scale farmland offerings in Lincs and Aberdeenshire

The firm’s Henry King says the latest launch, a block that has mainly been farmed regeneratively for the past five years, will be a good test of the market.

“This is a really interesting sale and my gut feeling is that there will be a great deal of local competition for it from farmers looking to expand, but there will without doubt be interest from investors too,” he says.

“We have had a number of transactions in south Lincolnshire this year with a range of buyers that have included not only national but international investors.”

Minimum tillage

For the past five years, crops at the Morton Fen block have been grown using minimum tillage, including direct drilling in a programme aimed at improving soils, increasing yields, and reducing the cost base.

“It has been farmed in a regenerative manner alongside the more intensive crops of potatoes and sugar beet,” says Henry.

A Mid Tier Countryside Stewardship agreement will be transferred to the buyer, while a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme agreement will terminate.

Irrigation is available through an abstraction licence from the South Forty-Foot Drain.

The land is being sold at a guide price of £6.6m for the whole, putting it at £9,635/acre. It is also available in two lots. 

Castle Gate Farm © GSC Grass

Yorkshire Dales stock farm

The autumn market also sees the launch of a livestock holding and an arable block that once operated as a golf course.

Castle Gate Farm, set in the Yorkshire Dales National Park within the heart of the Wensleydale Valley, has a combination of permanent pasture, productive meadowland, rough grazing, and five acres of amenity woodland across its 220 acres.

The Grade 4 land, lying between 170m and 270m above sea level, is free draining with slightly acid loam soils.

The fields are enclosed by dry-stone walls and post and wire fences which marketing agent GSC Grays says would benefit from upgrading.

Two public footpaths cross the land and there are natural sources of water for stock.

A range of modern steel portal frame buildings includes cubicle housing for 100 head of cattle, loose livestock housing, additional heifer cubicle housing and machinery or general purpose stores.

There is also an extensive range of traditional stone buildings with scope for alternative use, subject to the necessary consents.

The residential accommodation, a three-bedroom cottage in need of modernisation, is also stone-built.

An SFI agreement expires on 31 October 2026 but cannot be transferred.

Sporting rights are owned by a third party and are excluded from the sale.

GSC Grays is marketing Castle Gate Farm at offers over £1.8m.

Land at Reymerston, Norfolk © Ceres Property

Norfolk bare land

In Norfolk a former golf course where arable crops are now grown is also new to the market.

The land is well drained, says Peter Mason of Ceres Property. “It benefits from excellent access throughout due to its well-maintained network of concrete tracks,” he adds.

The 176-acre ring-fenced block of bare land is near Reymerston, about 15 miles south-west of Norwich.

It is mostly arable land, but with smaller areas of woodland and riverbank grassland which add to its ecological value.

An SFI scheme agreement is in place, but again is non-transferable 

The land is being sold subject to a 30-year overage on parts of it, entitling the vendors to 30% of any uplift in value on the grant of planning consent for specified developments.

Ceres Property has set a guide price of £1.5m.