county farms

Bearing in mind the tradition and history of county farms, I find stories like this sad and regressive. They make me wonder (I know I may be naïve in this regard) how anyone outside of an established farming family might ever get a start in agriculture. It tells us;

Demand for Herefordshire County Council’s 4,000-acre land and farms portfolio has proved to be strong with sales now agreed for all 59 lots, according to the selling agents.

The mass sell-off proved controversial after a number of the council’s tenants who were operating on farm business tenancies (FBTs) were served notices to quit ahead of the land being marketed.

This was despite an initial pledge by the council that people would not lose their “homes or livelihoods” as a result of the sale.

Stuart Flint, head of agency at Fisher German, said the project had uncovered unsatisfied demand for land which boded well for any landowners planning to dispose of farms in 2018.

“With some commentators querying the potential level of demand with a caution about ‘market supply flooding’ we are particularly pleased with the comprehensive disposal and the exceptional results achieved,” he said.

The company has reported it received more than 200 bids overall, with the sale generating interest from buyers in Europe and even the Middle East.

However, in the end it was mainly local bidders that proved successful, with more than 70% of buyers farming within the county and within 10 miles of their purchases.

Prices for vacant and equipped farms peaked at £16,000/acre, with sales across the portfolio averaging £11,420/acre – although this price includes the value of any farmhouses and buildings included as part of each lot.

Bare arable land prices ranged from £12,000-15,000/acre.

The demand for grassland was less predictable with hillside grazing in the west of the county realising in the region of £6,000/acre, while lowland leys achieved north of £8,500/acre, resulting in an average of £7,880/acre for grassland overall.

We’ve featured our concerns about councils selling off the land they acquired to support new entrants and people of limited means into farming in bygone times. This article reveals no slowing in that disappointing trend. It tells us:

The total area of county council farms in England shrank by more than 1,000ha between April 2015 and March 2016, according to latest figures.

The government has published its Annual Report to Parliament on Local Authority Smallholdings in England which this year collates data from 42 local authorities.

It found the number of county council farm tenancies in England fell by 61 in 2015-16, with 115 new tenancies granted, but another 174 terminated.

Figures on the amount of land acquired and disposed of by each smallholdings authority in 2015-16 showed 86ha were acquired by three smallholdings authorities and a total of 1,048ha were sold or otherwise disposed of.

The land sold off was spread across 25 different smallholdings authorities with the highest amount sold in Bedfordshire (130ha).

The local authorities with the most farmland are now Cambridgeshire (13,190ha), Lincolnshire (7,720ha) and Norfolk (6,450ha).

‘County farms’ are land holdings owned by Local Authorities and managed in-house or by an external agent on the authority’s behalf. Every farm is unique and the amount of capital required to let will vary. The major influence in getting a tenancy for a county farm will be the applicant’s management/business plan. Hinterland readers will already be familiar with the decline of county farms –particularly as Councils have been tasked by central Government to release ‘excess’ land and property.

This  article tells us how Defra minister George Eustice wants to reinvigorate England’s system of tenanted county farms so it offers new entrants a “real option” to carve a career in agriculture.

Acknowledging that the Government is powerless to stop cash-strapped county councils from selling off their farms, Mr Eustice said the 1970 Agriculture Act nonetheless gave Defra scope to work with Local Authorities to help them to “refine” their plans. “We cannot block them from selling those assets – they have a statutory right to do that – but we have a role to play in working with them on any plans for reorganisation of their county farms,” Mr Eustice told MPs during a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday 10 May.

The debate was tabled by Wealden MP Nusrat Ghani to discuss the length and security of farm tenancies. Mr Eustice was responding to a question by shadow Defra minister Nick Smith, who asked what the government was doing to help tenant farmers. Mr Smith said: “County council farm estates are an increasingly painful issue for tenant farmers that the government needs to address. Herefordshire Council has become the latest to sell off its estates – land that provided a good entry point for young farmers.”

Good on yer George – I fully agree with the sentiments set out by George Eustace here – lets hope the temptation to sell the “community silver” in terms of county farms is resisted by some authorities.

Mind you too often councils allow land agents too much control and don’t innovate enough in the management of the estates themselves. But that’s perhaps another story (hope my friend the Agricultural Chaplain in Lincolnshire Alan Robson is reading we have long held a cherished view on doing more in terms of this subject!)

The article tells us:

Defra minister George Eustice has called on local authorities to end the sell-off of county council farms – but warned that there are limits to what the government can do to stop it happening.

“It is a tragedy that some local authorities are choosing to sell because they are closing the door and closing opportunities for new entrants coming into the industry,” Mr Eustice told the NFU Tenant Farmers’ Conference at Newbury, Berkshire.

County council farms and estates had an important role to play, said Mr Eustice on Wednesday (4 November).

But he added: “There are limits to what the government can do – these are farms that are owned ultimately by local authorities. They are run by local authorities and county agents.”

Government cuts mean an increasing number of councils are looking at alternative sources of funding. They include Herefordshire, which is considering the future of some 45 council farms encompassing about 1940ha.