‘Land grant’ call for new blood

The Scottish Government was asked this week to consider providing new entrants to agriculture the opportunity to farm some of the estimated one quarter of a million acres of arable ground that it owns.

The idea was put to the rural affairs secretary, Richard Lochhead, on a visit to Culmaily Farm, Sutherland, by the tenant farmer, Angus McCall.

McCall, who chairs the Scottish Tenant Farmers’ Association, said after the visit: “We [the SFTA] raised the possibility of the Scottish Government using some of the land under its control to create starter units for young entrants and we are pleased that the cabinet secretary is enthusiastic about the idea which has now taken a step forward.”

Another possibility of getting more farmers into the industry might come from some of the 1.2 million acres of land in Scotland controlled by the Forestry Commission, with McCall saying he understood the commission was now planning to release some of this land back into farming and was actively looking to create opportunities for new entrants on the farms currently forming part of its investment portfolio.

“The lack of land available for let has been well documented over the last few years,” he said. “The large estates seem reluctant to rent out land for new entrants and I am delighted that Richard Lochhead has given his backing to an initiative which may shed some light at the end of the tunnel for would-be farmers.

“I hope that the government’s example will encourage others to follow suit so the next generation of farmers is not lost.”

Lochhead was non-committal in his response, saying only that they had discussed a number of ways of getting new entrants into the industry.

But he did say that, following a recent consultation on tenancy legislation, the Scottish Government would be looking at the responses and would be bringing forward legislation in the Scottish Parliament.

l Forestry owners are increasingly benefiting from the voluntary carbon credit market with an average of £600 per hectare being paid by investors.

Speaking this week, James Hepburne Scott of Forest Carbon said his company had arranged 40 contracts to enable the planting of 2.4 million trees on 1,445 hectares.

The sums paid to the landowner have ranged from £350 to £1,400 per hectare and, during the lifetime of the woodlands, it is estimated they will sequester 394,000 tonnes of CO2.

There are many barriers to planting forestry which is why woodland creation is at an all time low. These include the loss of income until the trees come to maturity.

But he claimed that many of these hurdles could be overcome by the injection of additional carbon finance at the time of planting.