A new independent review has published its recommendations on how landlords, tenants and government can work together to deliver a resilient and productive agricultural tenanted sector.
The Rock Review was commissioned by Defra in January to look at how to provide better support to tenant farmers and tenancies as the government seeks to drive growth and sustainability across the farming sector and rural communities.
The Tenancy Working Group, who produced the report, consisted of stakeholders from all parts of the tenanted sector including tenants, landlords and agents. Published recently, the review is clear on the essential role of tenant farmers in delivering our environmental targets, food security, and a growing rural economy.
With tenant farmers being stewards on holdings that cover more than half of farmable land in England, this group of farmers need to have access to government schemes. The review makes a series of recommendations to government to enable the tenanted sector to deliver sustainable food production, meet the challenges of climate change, and improve and enhance biodiversity. The recommendations cover a range of areas, including public schemes, landlord-tenant relationships and new entrants.
The Tenancy Working Group was formed to provide tenant farmers and associated stakeholders a further opportunity to make sure the new environmental schemes work within agricultural tenancies. The government will publish a formal response to the review in due course.
The Tenant Farrmer Association (TFA) Chief Executive George Dunn, was appointed to the working group when it was established in January 2022.
He said: “I was delighted to be a member of the #RockReview Working Group and I am thrilled with the report produced following just a few short months of intense work. The analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the Rock Review vindicate much of the TFA’s lobbying over many years.
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