Survey reveals drop in Scots tenanted land
Results from the first Scottish Agricultural Land Occupation Survey show a decline in land available to the tenanted sector.
The survey, which was conducted by the Scottish Agricultural Arbiters & Valuers Association (SAAVA) in conjunction with the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), is based on results from 107,000 acres of land on 203 farming units across Scotland.
Despite a total of 87 new tenancy agreements being put in place across 23,183 acres surveyed, tenancies on 22 units across 39,991 acres were not re-let, delegates at the SAAVA AGM in Stirling were told on Tuesday 12 March.
The units are now farmed under different arrangements: nine are farmed in-hand by the landowner, nine have been let on grazing agreements, four are farmed under contract farming agreements and one arrangement was not recorded.
In addition, no farming units were reported as being sold following the end of a tenancy, sold to a sitting tenant or farmed under a share farming agreement.
“The tenanted land sector is shrinking but much of the land that is lost is then made available on other arrangements to farming businesses,” said SAAVA president Martin Hall.
“In instances where the farmer of a tenanted unit changed, the tenancy was awarded to a new entrant in 23% of the cases recorded. This figure, almost a quarter, is encouraging but may not be enough to satisfy the demand by new entrants.”
The survey results showed that many owners and farmers used the opportunities given to them, where the law allowed them freedom to do so, to agree arrangements to suit them, said Mr Hall.
“We need to look at ways to encourage landowners who currently do not let land, or who only let on short-term grazing agreements, for example, to let out land under tenancy agreements.”
The survey would be used as a benchmark to help identify long-term trends in the tenanted land sector in Scotland, he added.