One of the major concerns of county councils' planning and transportation departments is the control of land resources owned by the county. There are pressures especially in the south east of the UK for the release of green belt land for housing which conflicts with wildlife pressure groups who lobby for the preservation of the countryside. Some of the land owned by county councils is leased to tenant farmers.

These county-owned farms are important to the farming economy as they allow new entrants to start farming in a small way and they are the only ones that small farmers can afford to run as the price of land, particularly in the south east, has risen rapidly. In the UK, just over 3 million hectares of land is rented, some 30% of farmed land. The Government believes that a thriving tenanted sector, involving a range of tenure arrangements, is a key element in a sustainable and diverse farming industry. Letting land can provide a way for farm businesses to expand as well as offering a way into the industry for new people. The Government has set up The Tenancy Reform Industry Group which will seek to establish an industry consensus on tenancy reform.

Willow Farm in the south east of England
Tom White was a farm worker but 12 years ago, he put himself forward for tenancy of a county-owned farm. He could not afford to buy a small holding outright and no other tenancies were available at the time. He is now a tenant on a county-owned farm of 75 hectares. It is a mixed farm. He has a small dairy herd and grows some cereals. He is now seeking to diversify his interests because of financial difficulties caused by uncertainty in the farming industry. The county land services department have supported the tenant farmers and bought a combine harvester for co-operative use among farmers and also encouraged a positive conservation policy advocated by DEFRA who give grants to farmers under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Some examples of the Scheme are given in Resource 4.

Black Harvest

Last year the weather was extremely wet in June, July and August so although the mild spring conditions had augured a good harvest, the crop did not ripen until very late in August. As the tenant farmers only had one combine harvester, they were forced to hire an additional one in order to get the harvest in. The bad weather meant that during the normal peak season of farming activity, much had been idle on the farm. Costs had increased but with no benefit to Tom whose financial difficulties increased and he was forced to extend his bank overdraft. He decided to take in bed and breakfast holiday makers in order to try to earn a little additional income.