Consultants employed by the Rural Affairs department are now sending surveys to every tenant farmer in Scotland as part of what is described as a major piece of research that will influence the future of Scottish farming.
Responses to the questionnaire will ‘inform the work of the Ministerial-led Agricultural Holdings Legislation review which is considering, among other issues, absolute right to buy for traditional secure 1991 agricultural tenancies’. Corresponding surveys are shortly be sent to landlords.
This comes as the Scottish Government publishes a new map showing the distribution of tenant farms across Scotland.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead says: ‘This research is vital to the review of Agricultural Holdings Legislation I am leading, as responses will influence our findings and the future of Scottish farming.
‘The map published today shows the distribution of tenant farms across Scotland, but we need to build up a much more detailed picture of the issues facing the sector and those working in it.
‘The surveys being carried out on our behalf have been developed in collaboration with the Tenant Farming Forum and ask important questions about people’s experiences of farming and views on the future of the tenanted agriculture sector.
‘To get the best from our land and the people farming it, we need a vibrant tenant farming sector and so I urge everyone who is asked to take part in these surveys to take full advantage of this unique opportunity to make their voice heard. All responses will be treated in the strictest confidence.’
About the surveys
Surveys asking about experiences of farming and views on the future of tenant farming of Scotland are being sent to all farm business that rent-in land on leases for more than one year.
Responses can be submitted online or on paper and are requested by 7th February 2014 with a final closing date of 10th March 2014. Corresponding surveys will be sent to landlords shortly.
A further telephone survey to drill into landlord and tenant farmer relationships is to be carried out with a sample of tenant farmers and landlords in the coming months [dates unspecified].
All responses to these surveys will be treated in the strictest confidence.
The surveys are said to have been carefully developed in collaboration with the Tenant Farming Forum, whose members include the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Scotland, the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA), Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) and the Scottish Agricultural Arbiters and Valuers Association (SAAVA).
A report incorporating all the strands of the research will be published on the Scottish Government website later this year.
‘Major’ research?
Two immediate but minor questions here question the utility of a vague double deadline date for submission of survey responses; and present the conundrum of why surveys cannot simultaneously be sent to the landlords. Is the consultant understaffed for the job?
The core issue is a serious one, questioning either the competence or the good faith of the exercise.
To undertake a sweeping country-wide piece of work involving issues as complex as these – and intended to inform potential legislation, requiring:
- the administration and analysis of distributed surveys;
- the distilling and codification of material from telephone interviews;
- the conducting of a considered analysis of the nexus of issues arising from these materials;
- the sketching of a consequent overall picture from such analyses;
- the writing of a report capable of accurately guiding the framing of potential new or amended legislation
would indeed be a ‘major’ piece of research.
The timescale set f0r this, however, is risible in terms of respectable and serious research aimed to produce deeply sound results to guide legislative and social change.
The timescale set is, however achievable in the context of a quick set of boxes to tick, a low rent analysis and the production of a quick report essentially designed to do only one thing – buy votes.
Call us cynical but we predict a highly populist report, licensing an ill-considered land grab in time for the referendum vote – reporting just before the start of the purdah period when goody bags from either side are proscribed.
Note: The new map that has been published shows the percentage of tenanted agricultural land by parish, excluding tenanted croft land, is downloadable here: 2013 tenanted agricultural land map MERGED
