Scots farm tenants get keys to ‘starter farms’

Two young men became Scotland’s newest farm tenants this week when they took up 10-year lease agreements and the keys to their “starter farms” on Forestry Commission land in Fife.

Craig Malone (27) from Stirling and Zander Hughes (25) from Dunfermline beat off stiff competition for the small units which are part of a pilot scheme for new entrants to the farming industry. Three more starter farms in Aberdeenshire and Dumfriesshire are to be made available to new entrants later this year.

The men were handed the keys to their farms by the Scottish government’s rural affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead (pictured), who said the future of farming depended on being able to attract new entrants and giving them an opportunity to get a foot on the farming ladder.