HC FARMS

[Denise Lloyd]

early termination of their tenancy where this would assist the delivery of their development of the estate

 

Sorry brain is a little rattled just watched last part of War and Peace but does that sentence make sense?

[Denise Lloyd]

Despite Tony Johnson Leader of the Herefordshire Council assuring the tenants that they would have a new landlord and other such assurances 15 Notices of Eviction have now been issued to the tenants - sinful

[Cambo]

Despite Tony Johnson Leader of the Herefordshire Council assuring the tenants that they would have a new landlord and other such assurances 15 Notices of Eviction have now been issued to the tenants - sinful

Tony Johnson is obviously a liar but then it's not the first time that he has been caught out lying…after all it's only peoples lives & livelihoods he's playing with so why should he care?

[Denise Lloyd]

Must be a prerequisite to become a Con Councillor - to be a convincing liar.

 

Tony Johnson Graham Powell Phillip Price three members of the Cabinet all with Council farms on their patch I wonder what story they spun to the tenants to get their votes.   

[Denise Lloyd]

A stomach churning report press the BBC Midlands and you will see a report

 

4 Views

 

BBC Midlands TodayLike Page

42 mins Â· 

Is there a future for tenant farming? Not in Herefordshire, it seems, after the county council chose to sell 45 small holdings, serving more than a dozen tenant farmers with notices to quit.

[megilleland]

Yes it seems politicians of all parties locally and nationally are hell bent in selling the county and country's assets to the highest bidder. The position of farming in the UK from the Corporate Watch website contains a mass of interesting and hard facts. Maybe our councillors and politicians should wise up to the reality of their actions.

 

The projected decline of the UK farming sector and the loss of people with the skills and knowledge to farm our countryside is putting the long-term sustainability and security of UK food production at risk. The post-war policy of maintaining food security through growing most of our food within the UK is being abandoned in favour of the idea that food security can be achieved through free trade and purchase of food on the world market. UK farmers currently supply about 62 per cent of our food needs.[75] But the mind-set of the Government and its policy advisers, appears to be that we can abandon much of our food production in the UK, leaving only a few vast agribusinesses to compete on world markets, plus a scattering of small, niche producers.

 

Some have argued that there is no need to worry about the decline of farming in the UK, that we should instead conserve the countryside for wildlife, leisure and tourism, essentially turning the UK into a theme park. But the rural landscape of the UK is very largely a farmed landscape, created by 5,000 years of agriculture. Hay meadows, pastures and other features of the farmed landscape which have their own special ecology would be lost if the land was no longer farmed.

 

Or turning good agricultural land into red brick housing estates for financial gain.

 

Rural areas are also being sapped of their young people. While the population of rural England (currently 28% of England's population) is growing three times faster than of urban areas,[61] it is retired people and better off families with private cars that are moving in, drawn by the perception that the countryside provides a better quality of life. At the same time there is an exodus of young people and those on lower incomes from the rural community because of the lack of affordable housing and jobs in the countryside.[62]

 

Those living in rural Herefordshire have to drive miles to get their shopping. I deliver post to rural communities, and delivering all day, come across no local shops or services whatsoever.

 

Farmers and farmworkers are the economic lynch-pins of their communities. As farms have disappeared and as those that remain have grown larger, farming is contributing less and less to the local community. Compared with smaller farms, large farms contribute less to the economic well being of the community because they tend to go outside the community to buy inputs and to sell their produce. Rural communities are losing their viability. There has been a dramatic decline in essential services in rural areas. Fewer than 12,000 rural shops are now left in Britain and at the current rate a further 300 are set to close each year.[57] Wholesalers, the lifeblood of small local shops, are closing at an ever increasing pace,while new registrations of small scale food manufacturers have fallen by 12 per cent.

 

Eight hundred communities in Britain have no bank left, and over a thousand have only one. In the decade to 2002, Britain lost one third of its bank network.[58] The post office network has contracted by 10% in the past 10 years, with rural areas particularly hard hit. In the first three quarters of 2000, 434 sub post offices (most of which were in rural areas) closed.[59] The local pub is also under threat with six village locals closing every week.[60]

 

The farm income crisis impacts most heavily on small and family farmers who have very little to cushion themselves against low prices. These farms are now in serious decline. Some small and family farms will survive by adding value; organic farming, processing milk to make cheese, growing herbs for medicinal use etc. But if the trend continues we can expect to see the demise of the majority of small family farms with much of the land that continues to be farmed in the future owned by absentee landlords - insurance companies, pension funds and big farming businesses - and managed by contract farming companies such as Farmcare, Velcourt, Sentry Farming and Booker Agriculture, with nothing but profit in mind.

 

As Jennifer Weiner said "Whenever people with money have power over people with less money, you have the potential for exploitation". However what is worse is when those organisations and corporations exploiting us do so using our own money and taxes we are totally ripped off.

[dippyhippy]

So sad to see the young family interviewed on Midlands Today. They have had their dreams ripped from them.

 

Pat Morgan then popped up on screen to say this was best value for the tax payers of Hereford, and those affected would be offered "business advice".

 

Err. Pat. These folks HAD a business. You and your cronies are responsible for them losing it.

[Denise Lloyd]

And a home Ms Morgan was cold and unfeeling I bet she hasn't lost any sleep over it

[megilleland]

Watching local TV tonight and Staffordshire has twice as many farms as Herefordshire, but they are keeping theirs. 

 

The public should petition Herefordshire Council to hold a referendum to change to a different form of governance (commitee) in view that the present system (cabinet) does not properly reflect the views of many of its electors and council tax payers. The present handling of the sale of council farms deserves a show of no confidence in the cabinet system which brought about this decision.

 

The Local Government Act 2000 requires Herefordshire Council to publish a notice which sets out the minimum number of signatures which would be needed to support a valid petition requiring the council to hold a referendum on whether the district should change to a different form of governance.

 

Minimum number of signatures to support a valid petition

The minimum number, equal to 5 per cent of the local government electors for the county of Herefordshire shown in the revised registers published at 15 February 2013, is 6,847.

 

This is the minimum number of signatures needed to support any petitions to the county council submitted between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.

 

The above number will be used for verification purposes in relation to any petition submitted to the district council before 1 April 2015. 

 

A new number will be published in February 2015 and if the number is less than 6,847 then the new number will apply from the date it is published.

 

Any such petition can be delivered in person or sent by post to the Electoral Services Office:

 

Telephone: 01432 260107

Email: elections@herefordshire.gov.uk

Address: Electoral services, Town Hall, St Owen St, Hereford HR1 2PJ

 

Our opening times are:

Monday to Thursday 8.45am to 5.15pm

Friday 8.45am to 4.45pm

[dippyhippy]

In Worcester a few years back, opposition councillors put forward a motion of no confidence if my memory serves me correctly.

[Denise Lloyd]

Let us hope some of the opposition are reading this and will do something similar.

[Denise Lloyd]

 

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   Nick Lloyd â€@LloydNj  9 hrs9 hours ago

   herefordshire council : Herefordshire council reconsider sale of county farms and notice served to ... https://www.change.org/p/herefordshire-council-herefordshire-council-reconsider-sale-of-county-farms-and-notice-served-to-tenants?recruiter=491005142&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive â€¦ via @UKChange

[Denise Lloyd]

So the Meeting went well!  Taken from the Farmers Weekly a nationally and possibly internationally read mag for the farming industry not showing Herefordshire Council in a very good light.

 

 

 

Petition against council farm sell-off snowballs

Jez Fredenburgh

Friday 19 February 2016 15:00

David Hughes/Robert Harding/REX/Shutterstock

A campaign to save county council farm tenancies in Herefordshire has amassed more than 500 signatures in its first day and has now gone past 800.

At least six farming tenants of Herefordshire County Council have been served notice to quit, despite believing the council had given assurances in December tenancies would be protected.

A total of 15 tenancies are due to be served notice this year following the council’s decision to sell its farming estate.

It is expected that 30 tenants on Agricultural Holdings Act (AHA) tenancies will also be affected by the transfer to a new landlord.

See more: Council accused of ‘misleading’ tenants on estate sell-off

A petition to urge the council to reconsider the sale and take back the notices to quit has reached near to 1,000 signatures since its launch yesterday.

Sell off a ‘waste’ for future generations

Welsh Newton Young Farmers’ Club member Rebecca Roper, who started the petition said it was shocking Herefordshire Council had made the decision in the way it had.

“I’m not a tenant and am lucky enough to come from a farming family with owned land. [The council’s decision] will ruin the chances of people who want to stand on their own two feet, but who don’t have land to inherit.

“It’s just such a waste of opportunities for other tenants and future generations.

The petition snowballed after Miss Roper posted it on Facebook yesterday and other people and Young Farmers Clubs started sharing it. 

She said she had received huge amounts of support from local people and many were asking her for copies so they could start a paper petition.

Anger and frustration for tenants

The council attracted anger earlier this month when it served notice to quit to five tenants, even though it had said in December people would not lose their homes or livelihoods as tenancies would be protected and transferred to a new owner.

However, the leader of the council Tony Johnson toldFarmers Weekly he had only been referring to AHA tenancies at the time and he had said other tenants would not “necessarily†lose their livelihoods. 

“We look like we are going to lose our homes and businesses. I’m a little bit numb – we’re not sure where to move on from hereâ€
Nick Lloyd, farm business tenancy holder

Farm business tenancy holder Nick Lloyd, was served notice earlier this month.

He said: â€œWe’ve had absolutely no contact from the council [since being served notice to quit] â€“ no letters, visits or phone calls,†said Mr Lloyd.

“We look like we are going to lose our homes and businesses. I’m a little bit numb – we’re not sure where to move on from here.

“We will probably have to move county. But I don’t want to find somewhere else and move, for the council to then turn around and say our tenancy has been rescinded.

“I’ve looked at a couple of farms and ground to let but nothing is fitting.â€

Mr Lloyd is planning to take the issue to the council ombudsman with the support of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) and ask for the notices to quit to be cancelled.

Meeting with council proves ‘a let down’

TFA chief executive George Dunn, said a meeting between the tenant’s association and the council on 8 February had been met with aggression and defensiveness by Harry Bramer, the councillor in charge of contracts and assets.

Mr Dunn described Councillor Bramer’s attitude in the meeting as “negative, obtuse and completely devoid of any issue of concern for tenantsâ€.

The TFA believed there were strong grounds to challenge the council’s decision to serve notices to quit, based on assurances made in December. 

 

R

[Denise Lloyd]

I am surprised that neither Jesse Norman nor Bill Wiggin have passed comment on the sale of the Council farms.  The farms are on both their patches and they must have passed time with at least one of the tenants. Very surprised and very lacking.

 

Perhaps they will be attending the Farming to London March on 23rd March 2016 to show at least some suppport.  TFA will be in attendance.  They do understand the sheer importance of good dedicated farmers.

 

 

TFA Supports Farmers For Action Farming to London March

TFA National Chairman Stephen Wyrill

The Tenant Farmers Association has thrown its weight behind the decision by Farmers for Action to hold a “Farming to London March†on Wednesday 23 March.

TFA National Chairman Stephen Wyrill said “All sectors of the agricultural industry are facing exceptionally poor returns at this time. Of course there are some global market reasons for this but we do feel that the Government could be doing more to ensure a fair market place for British farmers. I have been greatly heartened by the support that farmers have received from British consumers who tell us consistently of their desire to buy British products which they know are produced to high animal welfare, environmental and food safety standards. However, without Government intervention we are in danger of losing a significant volume of producers in short orderâ€.

“The aim of the march is to press Government to explain to the industry and to British consumers what its strategy is for British agriculture. This is even more important given the forthcoming EU referendum where those of us in the industry and consumers deserve to know exactly what the Government is planning by way of support to the industry whether or not we remain as members of the EU,†said Mr Wyrill.

“The TFA has been calling for some time for reforms to the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure a level playing field within the supply chain. The Adjudicator’s recent highlighting deficiencies with Tesco merely scratches the surface of bad practice within the retail environment and the Adjudicator needs new tools to ensure that retailers are held to account for their actions. To date we have heard little from the Government on what it will do,†said Mr Wyrill.

“We also need to hear from the Government about what it is doing to ensure that its own procurement of food for hospitals, prisons, schools and our Armed Forces is supporting British farmers. Just over a year ago the Government commissioned its own report on how public procurement could be improved but so far it has done nothing to implement any of the recommendations of the reportâ€, said Mr Wyrill.

“As well as looking at new markets for export we need to have a strategy to feed consumers from our own resources. We are pulling in a significant amount of cheap imports which undermine the ability of domestic producers to compete. A strategy for import substitution must be high on the agenda,†said Mr Wyrill.

“I am hoping that as many as possible will attend the march on 23 March. It will be a peaceful, productive demonstration which I hope will unite farmers and consumers to the same ends,†said Mr Wyrill.

end

 

[Denise Lloyd]

With the continuing focus on providing opportunities for new entrants to the agricultural industry it is frustrating to see the continuing attack on our County Council smallholding estates.  Cash strapped local authorities up and down the country are looking at their County farms estates as easy targets for raising quick money without thinking about the long-term consequences.  At the end of the day, these are income earning assets for local authorities as well as providing a raft of non-market benefits such as access, flood risk management, education outside the classroom and opportunities for renewable energy.

In the summer we had a misguided broadside against County farms by the Taxpayers Alliance whose naive arguments displayed its unquestioning stance against public ownership rather than the extent to which taxpayers were in receipt of “best value†in the provision of council services.  Most local authorities that carry out a proper assessment end up concluding that best value to Council Tax payers is achieved by local authorities retaining ownership of their estates but taking opportunities for rationalisation, development and other strategic sales coupled with advantageous purchases.  The most recent local authority to do the wrong thing by its Council Tax payers is Herefordshire, a great farming county that will rue the day it decided to sell its estate.  Sadly, the County Council is compounding its bad decision by reneging on promises made to its tenant farmers, particularly those in Farm Business Tenancies, about their long-term security.

Happily, we are working more positively with a range of other local authorities including Dorset, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire about how to better manage local authority estates in the modern context, particularly in relation to pressure on local authority finances.  A great aid to these discussions will be the Guidance Note produced by the organisations within the Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) which provides an asset management framework for local authorities to consider the future of their County farms estates.  This guidance represents best practice and local authorities would be in breach of their duty of care if they did not give it adequate consideration in any review process.

 

 

The above is an extract from the TFA's National Chairman's speech made today 1st March 2016.  Unable to copy some tweets at the moment I will try later

[Denise Lloyd]

TFA â€@tenantfarmers  2 hrs2 hours ago

Most recent local authority to do the wrong thing by tax payers @HfdsCouncil a great farming county that will rue the day it decided to sell

[Denise Lloyd]

TFA â€@tenantfarmers  2 hrs2 hours ago

Cash strapped local authorities are looking at County farms as easy targets for quick money without thinking about long-term consequences.

[Denise Lloyd]

1. A full copy of the National Chairman’s speech is available from the TFA’s website. http://www.tfa.org.uk/tfa-media-release-no-13-tfa-agm-report-from-the-national-chairman/ â€¦

[Denise Lloyd]

TFA â€@tenantfarmers  3 hrs3 hours ago

TFA has also called into question the tactics & modus operandi of some landlords agents who have been operating like dodgy used-car salesman

[megilleland]

 

Mr Lloyd is planning to take the issue to the council ombudsman with the support of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) and ask for the notices to quit to be cancelled.

 

Meeting with council proves ‘a let down’

 

TFA chief executive George Dunn, said a meeting between the tenant’s association and the council on 8 February had been met with aggression and defensiveness by Harry Bramer, the councillor in charge of contracts and assets.

 

Mr Dunn described Councillor Bramer’s attitude in the meeting as “negative, obtuse and completely devoid of any issue of concern for tenantsâ€.

The TFA believed there were strong grounds to challenge the council’s decision to serve notices to quit, based on assurances made in December. 

 

Local Government Ombudsman

 

Complaints about sale and disposal of land

 

This fact sheet is aimed primarily at people who have concerns that the council did not follow the correct procedures when disposing of some land and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

 

I am unhappy about the council’s decision to sell or dispose of land or buildings; or about the way it went about such a sale or disposal. Can the Ombudsman help me?

 

Did Mr Lloyd follows this avenue up?

[Denise Lloyd]

Just to clarify Mr Nick Lloyd and I are not related - well not as far as I know anyway.

 

Another good find Meggilleland. I rather suspect with the backing of George Dunn TFA Mr Lloyd will be more than well advised but also suspect that one or two of them read this forum.

 

I will be reading the fact sheet that is for sure.

 

This is a truly terrible time for these tenants my heart goes out to them and their families. Good farmers are not just employed and I hope these people find suitable alternatives and are never treated in this disgraceful way again.  By following the Ombudsman route let us hope that some sort of closure can be reached and the tenants can move on in a better managed environment.

[Denise Lloyd]

Excellent letter from John Harrington in the HT today shame the HT have shown little imagination and duplicated probably word for word the letter in their Farming News

[Denise Lloyd]

Herefordshire County Council v Staffordshire County Council - chalk and cheese

 

STAFFORDSHIRE County Council has announced it is postponing next month's proposed farm rent reviews - just weeks after tenants reported they faced "considerable increases".

The reviews due to take place next month will be delayed until March 25 2017, the county council has said, following a review of current trading conditions. It will be the second freeze in two years for some tenants.

But George Dunn, chief executive of the Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA), said just days before the announcement that the TFA had been contacted by a "significant number of Staffordshire County Council tenants".

He added: "Despite the fact that most of these tenants had increases three years ago I was very surprised and massively disappointed to hear that the county council is seeking increases in rents and in some cases considerable increases. Having talked through the individual circumstances of those who have contacted us we can find no justification for any increases, let alone the extortionate levels of increase the county council is proposing.

 

Read more: http://www.staffordshirenewsletter.co.uk/Staffordshire-County-Council-announces-March-rent/story-28809299-detail/story.html#ixzz41vEtTvg3 
Follow us: @StaffsNews on Twitter | StaffordshireNewsletter on Facebook

[Denise Lloyd]

And from our close neighbours Worcestershire County Council

 

COUNCIL chiefs in Worcestershire insist their treasured public farms will not be sold - despite the pressure to get rid of more property.

The Conservative leadership says it would rather focus on trying to release more surplus buildings than re-consider the future of its 95 farms and smallholdings.

It comes despite the temptation that it could rake in multi-millions in one-off cash.

 

As your Worcester News revealed last year, some backbench councillors suggested an investigation should start over letting some of the assets go.

County Hall's 95 sites cover 3,300 acres of land and range from small plots of agricultural land to larger farms, bringing in rental income worth £300,000 a year to the public coffers.

Since then a new drive has launched to try and claw back £10 million in capital receipts from selling property by 2020.

In recent years more and more top-tier authorities have sold off either most or all of their farming assets, especially ones covering rural counties.

But Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member for transformation and commissioning, says any idea it should be looked at in Worcestershire is off the agenda.

He said: "It is not about selling the family silver, we are not going to consider selling off our smallholdings.

 

"We make a good earning out of them, it supports the rural economy, so letting them isn't something we are going to do."

Speaking during a cabinet meeting, he said the current project to release more property would not see it broadened to the farming land.

It echoed remarks made one year ago by Worcestershire farmer Rob Adams, a Tory councillor who lives in Spetchley and looks after beef cattle at Aston Hall Farm, in White Ladies Aston.

At the time Councillor Adams said he would "never" back any proposals to sell the farming estate, saying it would be like flogging the family silver.

Over the last 15 years the council has sold 54 smallholdings to long-standing tenants across Worcestershire, but the general policy is to keep them in-house.

They were originally bought to give returning first world war soldiers a route into agriculture.

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In recent years authorities in areas like Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Somerset have raked in millions from selling most or all of their stocks.

* The great shrinking estate: Council buildings 'bonfire' to continue to rake in £10m

 

[Denise Lloyd]

Herewith John Harrington's letter published in the HT on 3rd March 2016

 

 

 

Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire are all keeping their council owned farms and regard them as valuable assets but the Tory cabinet in Herefordshire has decided we should sell ours for a quick buck. They did this a few years before when they sold half of the farms, with the promise of all the riches it was going to bring to the coffers then. Cllr Roger Philip’s boasts still ring in our ears. We were promised the capital receipts were going to grow and grow as the Conservatives wisely invested. Now, a few years down the line we are £180 million-odd in debt as a council and after selling the remaining farms, we have pretty much nothing left to sell. And in the meantime tenant farmers and their families suffer.

Fifteen Herefordshire farming families were served their notices to quit this month, those notices giving those families 12 months to go. Sheep, cows and horses will have to be moved, sold or put down. Children will be uprooted from the schools and countryside they grew up in. This is an incredibly difficult and sad time for these families and this was so very avoidable.

Our farming community has been let down completely. Cllr Harry Bramer, in particular, has behaved disgracefully in the manner in which he handled this affair. Despite being the cabinet member responsible for the portfolio governing county assets, he has not spoken to a single tenant farmer or their representatives during the whole process, leaving them worried, anxious and unsettled for over two years.

 

 

We have no huge income from business rates to fall back on when central Government reduces the grant to local authorities to zero as soon as soon as they can manage it, a policy both our Conservative MPs appeared to support when they voted in favour of a 25% reduction in funding for the financial year 2015-2016. So we really do needed to hang onto our assets.

We should have followed the strategy of county councils in the same position; kept the farms, rationalised them and borrowed against their value. This is what the Council’s own scrutiny and overview committee, with a Conservative majority proposed! Letters from the Bishop of Hereford, the NFU, the Tenant Farmers Association and several respected dignitaries urged cabinet members to follow that advice. They simply ignored all.

 

John Harrington

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Chairman, It’s Our County

Nordan

 

[Denise Lloyd]

Cash problems started long before Herefordshire's farm sell-off

Our reader takes issue with the farms sell-off

 

Andrew Doyle, Deputy Editor / 3 hours ago / Letters

 

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I am sure many Herefordians will be concerned over the news that Herfordshire council is evicting a number of tenant farmers from council land in order to sell this land to pay off some of their ill-conceived and massive debts. Not only are they depriving hard working tenant farmers of their livelihood which helps to feed the nation, but they are throwing away a long term revenue stream and the future of potential young farmers. Have they missed the point that agricultural land is growing in value at an annual compound rate of 9% per annum? Why is Herefordshire going in a different direction with regard to tenant farmers than our neighbouring counties? I suggest it is because of council incompetence over the past few years, it is easy and convenient for them to blame a reduction in central government financial support, but the problems started well before those cut-backs.

It is my opinion that Herefordshire council have been profligate with tax payer’s money in very many ways including, unnecessary ill thought out schemes and the employment of expensive consultants. We are told that to recruit top quality council officers they have to be paid top dollar, some of them are being paid circa £100,000 per annum: if therefore they are so good then why does the council need consultants, surely they could do it in house? There is also the matter of the cost of a number of lost court cases.

 

Surely, the solution lies in the hands of the electorate which in this county has a poor turnout record in local elections. I am a lifelong Conservative voter who cannot vote for our current conservative administration.

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Peter *****

Lower Bullingham

[Denise Lloyd]

'Council-owned farms are a national asset under threat', warns Plaid Cymru

 

Councils are under huge pressure to sell farms off to bring in income to pay for other services

Council-owned farms are a national asset under threat of being sold off to balance the books, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Rural Affairs Minister has warned.

 

Llyr Gruffydd pledged that a Plaid Cymru government would prioritise efforts to protect council-owned farms for future generations but warned that it is now or never to secure their future.

 

Mr Gruffydd said that council farms were a national asset but that they were under threat due to severe budget cuts by the UK and Welsh governments.

 

He said that Plaid Cymru would develop a council farm strategy to enhance opportunities for new entrants into farming and providing a platform to test new and innovative approaches.

 

Llyr Gruffydd said that Plaid Cymru would work with local authorities and other partners including farming unions, the Young Farmers’ Clubs, the Tenant Farmers Association and agricultural colleges to draw up a strategy to protect council farms.

 

Plaid Cymru Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Llyr Gruffydd said: “We know that the financial pressure on local authorities makes the future of council farms hugely vulnerable.

 

“Councils are under huge pressure to sell them off to bring in income to pay for other services. That’s why we must act swiftly to protect them.

 

“There’s a real danger that this is selling off an important part of the future of farming.

 

“Council farms are important gateways into the industry, particularly for younger entrants who would otherwise not have an opportunity to farm.

 

“Plaid Cymru would be particularly keen to put these farms to more creative use when the opportunities arise.

 

“The possibility of working with agricultural colleges to give opportunities to implement new and innovative approaches to farming could be part of the mix.

 

“We’ve also seen the excellent work the National Trust has done with Wales Young Farmers’ Clubs offering bursaries to young farmers at Llyndy Isaf in Snowdonia, giving them valuable experience of farm management as they start their farming careers.

 

“That’s the kind of creative thinking, albeit on a longer term basis, that could be part of our approach to council farms in future.

 

“A Plaid Cymru government would bring all the stakeholders together to draw up a strategy to put our national asset to good use.

 

“Once they’re gone, they’ll be gone for good, so we need to act to protect them now.†

 

 

[Denise Lloyd]

This article needs no introduction it is self explanatory but it is essential reading for all those politicians and council person from Cameron all the way down who have made the decision to put Council Farms on the open market - shame on you all

 

 

 

"Why family farms must be protected by Megan Perry on  26 February, 2016  in Farming

 

 

A recent open meeting of the Family Farmers’ Association (FFA), held at Westminster, brought together a core group of individuals, organisations and policymakers to discuss ways to support and protect smaller farms.

With the UK rapidly losing its traditional farming culture, groups like the FFA and the Land Workers Alliance (LWA) see protecting smaller farms as a priority. Recently released policy documents by both organisations lay out their ideas, with the LWA’s Equality in the Countryside and the FFA’s Plans for a Happier Countryside both calling for radical change to an economic system that continues to price most small farms out of the market. As James Moorford, FFA Joint Chairman says, “We are now in a rush to the bottom.â€

Common Agricultural Policy

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) frequently fails to support those who need it most. Payments are based on area, and those who farm less than five hectares are ineligible for support. This is one factor pushing some farms to expand, while smaller farms drop out.

In contrast, there is a rising number of, what Agriculture Minister George Eustice has called small ‘hobby’ or ‘lifestyle’ farms, which has only increased the tendency of the farming industry to not take smallholdings seriously.

One LWA member pushed the Minister to consider lowering the subsidy eligibility limit to below five hectares. But his reply emphasised his preference for maintaining the status quo, arguing there would be very few ‘real farmers’ with so little land. When asked whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) should be eligible, he said he had never heard of CSAs.

A limit to CAP subsidies was also discussed. Both the LWA and the FFA would like to see a subsidy ceiling of no more than £150,000 per farmer. But again, the Minister was unwilling to take any radical steps, arguing that large farms would simply split into two smaller units in order to get under the limit.

And with the Defra budget being slashed by 30%, it’s not surprising that there is little enthusiasm to make serious changes, particularly where they would entail extra time and money in administration and regulation.

Land prices

Land prices have doubled in the last 10 years alone. This makes the likelihood of owning land almost impossible for new entrants. It also means that the wealth of family farms is tied up in land and property, increasing the temptation to sell up instead of passing on the farm as one unit down the generations.

The key to addressing this surely lies in preventing the sale of farmland to non-farmers. Farmland should have some conditionality attached to it, in the same way as a listed building or a business. This would automatically exclude many of those who buy land simply as investment or for speculation. If bought, the land must be cared for and farmed, and this could be done either by the owner or a tenant farmer.

The sale of council farms is also becoming increasingly common, particularly following local authority budget cuts. The LWA calls for the sell-off of county farms to be halted and for local authorities to be re-empowered to acquire land for letting.

Affordable living

The countryside is an expensive place to live and this is forcing many local people and farming families out of the villages where they grew up. The LWA’s Rural Manifesto calls for the increased investment of council and social housing in villages. But for rural areas to be truly ‘affordable’ there also needs to be work, shops and services available. Maintaining family farms therefore plays an important role in rebuilding rural cohesion and economic viability.

Franchise system

Unfortunately, putting family farms and local businesses at the heart of the food system does not seem to be a priority for policymakers. The problem for family farms, according to Eustice, is that they do not have enough clout. His preferred solution to this would be a franchise system, whereby farms enter agreements with large companies which then shoulder some of the burden, thus spreading risk more fairly throughout the food chain.

Big companies sharing some risk is all very well if we want to continue with a food system dominated by multinationals and driven by free trade competition. But small, family farms will never fare well in this sort of environment, and the UK’s food security would suffer as a result.

Why family farms must be protected

Small farms can in fact be very productive, growing abundant food on relatively small pieces of land. Because they are often cared for by generations of the same family, the people are heavily invested in the land and have a strong emotional attachment to it. It is therefore well cared for and not simply mined for its fertility and resources.

Small farms also offer many more employment opportunities, as they are often more labour intensive than large mechanised farms. They tend to use local services and nearby agricultural businesses, strengthening rural economies and providing further jobs.

But there are some things that are harder to value, and according to Moorford we must adjust our thinking and find a way to value smaller farms for their moral, social and spiritual aspects. We should, for example, pay farmers to care for the land, encourage biodiversity and maintain public access.

The decline of family farms is therefore having a devastating impact in the UK. With the disappearance of those who have maintained Britain’s traditional farming knowledge for generations, the food system will become highly dependent on intensive mechanised farming and imports. The loss of family farms means the loss of the historical foundation of the farming industry and a major part of the UK’s heritage and cultural identity.

This decline is already evident in the impact on social structures within rural communities. Farming has become more isolated, leaving farmers feeling unsupported and the consumer disconnected from the processes of food production.

All these issues must be included in any attempt to value family farms, because they are worth so much more than the price of a commodity. But it is clear that if we do not act fast, something deeply important – in ways we perhaps cannot comprehend – will be lost.

Photograph: Terry Kearney"

[Pete Boggs]

Like I said other Councils are able to properly manage their farms as an asset and produce an income for them. Herefordshire Council can't, because they're thick and useless.

 

What are they going to do when they've spent all the money from the farm sales? How much will they be in debt then? The Can has well and truly been kicked down the road.

[Denise Lloyd]

Absolutely spot on PB and the saddest part of it all is that people of Herefordshire will be left to pick up the pieces because these so called experts will have long since sold up and moved into their retirement homes.

 

Such a shame one or two of them can't do an IDS