Scottish Land & Estates (SL&E) has published proposals for the tenanted sector that it claims will actively support enterprising farm businesses and encourage the next generation of aspiring farmers to flourish.
The proposals,which were made public yesterday, are set out in an initial submission to the group which has been established by the Scottish Government to review agricultural holdings legislation — the full submission can be read online on the SL&E website.
It will come as little surprise to many in the farming community that SL&E, which represents the interests of landowners in Scotland, completely rejects calls for an absolute right-to-buy (ARTB) for tenants.
Instead, SL&E says the proposal is "widely regarded as an unwarranted attack on property rights and destructive to the farming industry".
In a move that will be seen as acknowledging claims by some tenants that they are harshly and unfairly treated by landlords and/or their agents, SL&E suggests an extension of the remit of the proposed Office for Scottish Tenant Farming to include powers to investigate and name and shame those who engage in bad practice.
The widely-publicised offer of an "amnesty" for farm tenancy improvements, which would be backed by statute, to enable tenants to register improvements eligible for compensation at way-go (leaving the farm) is also included in the submission.
However, that move is viewed with caution by the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, which pointed out that individual landowners have shown willingness to challenge legislation in the courts.
Alongside those ideas, SL&E also proposes that in order to increase the letting of land, allowing contractual resumption and freedom to agree which party takes responsibility for the replacement of fixed equipment could be made to Limited Duration Tenancies.
Those are measures which SL&E believes should increase the use of such tenancies.
Andrew Howard, a director of SL&E and chief executive of Moray Estates, said: "We recognise that to give confidence to tenants and those letting land there are issues to be dealt with before moving forward."
Mr Howard went on to suggest that an absolute right to buy would destroy the sector, and added: "The killer blow to the tenanted sector would be an absolute right-to-buy, which has previously been roundly rejected across the industry and has all the hallmarks of a land-reform driven solution.
"It is nothing short of the enforced sale of one individual's property to another individual and will hit small-scale landowners as well as big estates, denying young farmers the chance to get their first foot on the farming ladder. It is in everyone's interest that such a measure is ruled out once and for all."
Market round-up
WALLETS Marts sold 673 prime hoggs in Castle Douglas on Tuesday to a top of £96 per head and 243.2p per kg to average 198.1p (-5.8p on the week).
There were also 162 cast sheep forward when ewes sold to £127 for Texels and £74 for Blackfaces, with the overall average levelling at £60.40. Messrs Craig Wilson Ltd sold 10 prime heifers at Ayr on Tuesday to a top of 251p per kg and an average of 221.9p.
Meanwhile, 7 prime bullocks peaked at 230p and levelled at 201.7p. In the rough ring 37 beef cows averaged 125.8p and 101 dairy cows levelled at 105.9p.
Twelve OTM cattle averaged 164.9p and 10 bulls levelled at 110.8p. There were also 89 beef-breeding cattle forward that met a similar trade to the March sale.
The top prices and averages saw heifers with calf at foot to £2000 and average £1598.88 for nine. Two cows with calves both sold for £1350 each; in-calf cows £1220 and £1050 for six; in-calf heifers £1200 and £1125 for five; bulling heifers £1480 and £1053.69 for 65, while two bulls sold for 2800gns and 1600gns.
The 14 dairy cattle forward were harder to cash, selling to £2280 for a Holstein Friesian heifer and averaging £1361.
The firm went on to sell 519 prime hoggs in Newton Stewart yesterday to a top of £100.50 and 218.2p to average 203.2p (-1p). The 121 cast sheep forward saw ewes sell to £104 for Texels and £74.50 for Blackfaces.
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