analysis

The HISTORIAN in the family can produce a family tree going back several generations and most of its branches are dominated by tenant farmers. Unsurprisingly back in the 1970s, I followed my forefathers’ footsteps as I was sufficiently fortunate to move into a farm tenancy alongside my father.

The landlord was someone we saw once a year and his factor twice as often on rent days. You could be guaranteed, however, that if a farming operation was causing havoc with the estate pheasant shoot or one of the farm workers had been seen taking some firewood out of the coppice a phone call would ensue.

Then as farming ratcheted up a gear, problems started to arise. Growing potatoes and other cash crops required irrigation in order to remain competitive.

Who would install the equipment? There was only one answer and that was the tenant.

The potato acreage on the farm was soon not of sufficient scale to compete with larger units so rented land was taken but in order to store them, new buildings were needed. Again the tenant put his hand in his pocket and paid for the new sheds.

So while the landlord/tenant system may have been a good arrangement for my forefathers, it became less so as the industry advanced and more investment was needed.

A few weeks ago, I drove between Dundee and Arbroath. Not only does this short drive take in a fair percentage of the grade-one land in Scotland, it was also where Panmure Estate once existed.

Ten years have elapsed since that estate of 20 or more of the best arable farms in Scotland was broken up and sold off to individual tenants. It had been a model estate in its day but the day had passed.

The roadside observer can see the transformation of the past decade.

The obvious one is that no longer does every farm steading along that road has its doors and gutters painted elephant gray as per the conditions of the Panmure Estate lease. More significantly, there are new buildings and there has been more investment in properties that are now owned by the farmers themselves.

Another roadside observation from other locations around Scotland is the considerable number of derelict properties; empty farm houses and run-down steadings. On enquiry, many of those belong to estates where estate owners value vacant possession as giving them flexibility in future decisions.

Recently a magazine highlighted this issue of dereliction of farms, targeting one particular very large estate in the south of Scotland. The rebuttal stated that there was a reorganisation of the estate taking place and the abandoned properties would soon be brought back into action.

Still on the same theme, the Scottish Government has set ambitious targets for renewable energy and many landowners and farmers are looking at their options. Whether these are based on wind power, solar energy or hydro schemes, they all have one factor in common; that of requiring a long-term land base.

I know there are exceptions where agreements have been hammered out but this explosion of interest in renewable energy does not sit easily with existing farm tenancies.

Another priority for the Scottish Government is increasing the area of land under forestry and, again, the establishment of long-term woodland does not lie easily within the short-term nature of the tenanted farm sector.

All of this leads me to ask whether the current system of landowner/tenant in Scotland is the best and most appropriate one for 21st century agriculture?

Merely by raising the question, I know that I will be listed as a dangerous left-wing loonie in some more traditional eyes. I can cope with that inaccuracy but it does not answer the question.

Ten years have passed since there was the last great stushie on land reform. The then Scottish Executive had an ambitious programme of land reform and several MSPs thought they would add to the reform by lobbing in a clause so that all tenants would have the right to buy their properties.

The landlords – many of whom achieved their land holdings by marriage, murder and mayhem not to mention less savoury aspects such as slave trading – marshalled their troops and the issue died.

Since then, there has been a change of government and one or two of those who were vigorously calling for the right to buy are now in charge.

I look back at some of the suggestions that were made during the passage of the Land Reform Act, but it may be that some MSPS have lost their political radicalism as they stepped into office.

It may be they are prepared to leave a system of land ownership which makes Scotland unique in Europe as, to the best of my knowledge, no other country has the two-tier system with land owners and tenants.

The fact that we have a system where one-third of the land is owned by a few hundred people is almost irrelevant

More importantly, the present landlord/tenant system may be stifling political ambitions, as with forestry and renewable energy. I would also contend that, because of constraints on investment, it is not the best vehicle for producing food and having an efficient agricultural industry in the 21st century.