Tenant Farmers Association warns about rewilding plans

By Chris Wright, Partner and ARA specialist

Some landowners are attempting to regain possession of land rented to tenant farmers, to enrol it for use in rewilding schemes, the Tenant Famers Association (TFA) has said.

According to the body which represents tenant farmers, some landowners have issued notices to tenants informing them they are attempting to retake possession of Agricultural Holdings Act (AHA) land for rewilding.

The potential for this issue to arise was flagged by the National Farmers Union earlier this year, after The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), announced a raft of new legislation that paid landowners to take out of food production and rewild it via ending cultivation, planting trees and restoring wetlands.

The Government body said its target was to rewild around 300,000 hectares of farmland within the next 20 years. However, with around one-third of farmland in the UK being rented, the threat to tenant farmers could be more significant.

The TFA advises its members that applying for a change of land use from food production to nature restoration is more difficult for landowners than is first apparent.

But the NFU has warned that receiving payments for land restoration, instead of dealing with farming tenants could prove tempting for landowners.

The rewilding/land restoration scheme is just one part of the post-Brexit settlement that has seen the UK withdraw from the Common Agricultural Policy, which concentrated on food production, to a scheme which sees farmers receive payments based on increasing care for the environment and countryside stewardship.

Have you been affected by the way in which farming payments work? Speak to our team today for advice.