Forestry Commission to offer two ‘starter units’

By Andrew Arbuckle
Published on Tuesday 31 January 2012 00:00

TWO farms in Fife owned by the National Forest Estate will be offered to new entrants to farming to lease as part of a new pilot initiative launched by Forestry Commission Scotland.

The “starter farm” initiative has been created to provide much-sought-after openings for new entrants. The scheme will see applicants being offered the chance to lease farm land under a ten-year limited duration tenancy agreement.

From this first step, it is hoped that successful applicants will gain valuable experience in managing their own farm business on a part-time basis before moving on to larger scale operations at the end of the lease period.

Richard Lochhead, the cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, described the initiative as a positive step towards closer connections between forestry, the agricultural industry and the next generation of farmers.

“New entrants now have an exciting chance to get on the first rung of the ladder and launch their farming enterprises,” he said. “It is good news for new tenants and for the sector as we now have another chance to bring in and develop new talent.”

Angus McCall, chairman of the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, also welcomed the announcement. “Balancing the sometimes conflicting interests of farming and forestry is a difficult juggling act,” he said.

“The Forestry Commission has recently become a major buyer of farmland and we are pleased that, in recognition of the lack of opportunities for new entrants in to agriculture, they have taken the initiative to create starter units for young farmers.”

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Family guy

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 08:28 AM

1 - Yes, but's still a tenancy and a limited one at that. LDT's and other tenancies do not offer permanancy that is required to steward the land properly nor stabilise the skills base so desperately needed in our agricultural sector.

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bumpkin

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 09:34 AM

good news after a lot of hard work by the STFA who thought of this idea first. Hell will freeze over before the lairds would do this.

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