The Rock Review, commissioned by the Environment Secretary earlier this year, provides recommendations on how landlords, tenants, and government can work together to deliver a vibrant, resilient and productive agricultural tenanted sector.
Half of England’s farmable land has a tenant farmer as the custodian. The Review argues that tenant farmers will find it difficult to access new public schemes that support them to deliver food production alongside environmental benefits. Delivering statutory environmental targets, improving soil, waterways and air quality alongside meeting food security needs cannot be done without the agricultural tenanted sector.
The vision for the tenanted sector is one that:
- Delivers sustainable food production and strengthen the nation’s food security
- Meets the challenges of climate change
- Delivers improvements to nature and enhancements to biodiversity
- Drives growth in our rural economy
James Wright said
"The findings of the Rock Review are significant and give a roadmap on how tenant farmers can be better supported in the delivery of food security, nature services and for their landlords.
The report is incredibly rich in detail & contains 74 recommendations, they range from bureaucratic changes like explicitly including land occupation in a directors portfolio, to strategic items like allowing landlords who let for 8 years or more to declare the rent as trading income
Any of these changes will have a positive impact on the tenanted sector. I wish to extend my personal thanks to Baroness Rock who met with hundreds of farmers over the last 9 months and members of the Tenancy Working Group"
Baroness Kate Rock said
“This review provides a clear vision for the agricultural tenanted sector in England that Defra can and should adopt. The recommendations, when taken together, actively move the sector towards a position where tenant farmers operate resilient, successful, and thriving businesses.
Some recommendations can be more immediately delivered by Defra such as changes to scheme design that would expand the opportunities for tenant farmers to access support for improving the environment alongside producing food.
Other recommendations are more structural. These will put the tenanted sector on a more resilient footing as we move through the agricultural transition. They will encourage tenant farmers and landlords to collaborate and invest in productivity, improve the environment and drive growth in the rural economy”
