There is no doubt that farmers are facing a challenging time with the change from the BPS system to the new principle of public money for public goods and a seemingly heavy emphasis on taking land out of cultivation, be it arable or livestock, in order to provide biodiversity net gain, nitrogen mitigation for building or other environmental schemes. The Agriculture Act 2020 does not seem to actually give food production much weight, yet most farmers want to farm, not see their land turned into a wildlife haven at the expense of production.
As input costs have soared, there is a growing move towards regenerative farming. This requires changes to land and animal husbandry, via a new system of mob grazing and careful selection of herbal and grass leys. Done correctly, this allow farmers to actually reduce input costs, both from fertilizer, and veterinary drug costs, ie a reduction in wormer use etc, and improve livestock health.
The changes can require a capital expenditure as new fencing systems and seeds need to be purchased, then installed and drilled and management changes implemented. A number of case studies see the farmer who has implemented such systems genuinely delighted with the results. The benefit seems clear, on pure economic terms and a win for nature with improved bio diversity of the grass sward, less intensive grazing per acre due to rotation and a general increase in wildlife and plant species seen.
An owner occupier farmer can decide when and how to implement such changes. A tenant may however be reluctant, particularly if he is on a short term FBT. Many are for 7 year or less which is really a very short timescale to implement and reap such reward. Landlords could consider granting longer tenancies that contain provisions requiring a tenant to move over to such a regenerative system. It would, if done correctly benefit the tenant by reducing long term inputs, and the landlord by improving the quality of the biodiversity and soil health of the farm. Such clauses would require some work to draft to ensure an even handed approach but we suspect that eventually this mode of farming will become more prevalent and set the standards for good husbandry in the future, and time spent now in drafting may be time well spent.
If you would like to know more about how we can help you with any agricultural related matters, please visit our Agricultural Land, Farms & Estates page on our website, or contact me direct at elinor.davis@parissmith.co.uk.