Tucker says flexibility is the key to future of tenant farming in Scotland

Having observed at first hand some of the downsides to current tenant farming legislation, Daye Tucker, from Carbeth home farm in south-west Stirlingshire, believes that there should also be the option of an agreement between landowner and the renter of land without invoking the consequences of existing law.

This would provide, in her words, another tool in the box for those renting land.

Tucker, whose 320-acre farm is a mix of grassland and mixed woodland, said she believed this additional option would vastly increase the amount of land that is being farmed and it would also allow more of the younger generation to get into the industry.

The current position is stifled with a fear by landowners of creating tenancies which devalue their property but she added there were also unscrupulous farmers who have taken advantage of unsuspecting landowners by claiming a tenancy after a period renting the land.

The situation is so bad, she believed that some of those wishing to invest in land in Scotland were discouraged, especially with the recent resurrection by some politicians of tenants’ possible “right to buy” on their property.

Tucker, who recently joined the board of Scottish Land and Estates, emphasised she was speaking as an individual and was not putting forward the views of the SLE.

She also took aim at the unfairness of the single farm payment scheme from which she is excluded because she only came into farming after the qualifying period. However, she believed this exclusion had helped sharpen her approach to farming and concentrated her approach to producing as efficiently as possible. One example of this is her high performance sheep enterprise where stock are valued on their production and not on their looks.

Her main concern about the unfairness of SFP had more to do with the deterring effect it had on the next generation of farmers as many of them were also excluded from support.

She saw her appointment to the SLE Board as helping to connect landowners with local communities.

She chairs the Killearn Futures Community Trust which has just received support from the Rural Priorities fund with the cash going towards revitalising the local community hall.