Survey of the Agricultural Tenant Farmers

1 INTRODUCTION

Background

1.1 Tenant farming accounts for almost a quarter of all farmed land in Scotland^[1]. It represents an important part of Scottish agriculture, with tenancies providing a means of entry into farming. The continued decline in agricultural tenancies, alongside ongoing high profile legal debate on the future of agricultural policy and regulation, has necessitated the need for better information on the tenant farming sector in Scotland to support policy and regulatory development.

1.2 The Scottish Government commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out a survey of tenant farmers in Scotland. The aim of the research was to assess the nature of agricultural land tenure arrangements in Scotland and to identify and assess some of the issues faced by tenant farmers in Scotland. This included an examination of the proposal to grant those with agricultural tenancies secured under the 1991 Act the absolute right to buy (ARtB).

1.3 The survey measured: the current level, nature and types of agricultural land tenure arrangements in Scotland; changes in land tenure since 2000 among existing tenant farmers; views on the future of the farming sector in Scotland; relationships with their landlords; views on the Absolute Right to Buy; and plans for the future of their business.

1.4 The research will support a Ministerial led review of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 that is being carried out by the Agricultural Holdings Legislation Review Group.

1.5 This research is part of a series of studies being conducted by the Scottish Government to support their development of agricultural policy and regulation. A similar survey of agricultural landlords is being conducted to provide evidence on the same set of issues. A survey of landowners who do not rent out agricultural land will be conducted in order to better understand the reasons why this group do not rent out agricultural land. Additionally, further surveys of agricultural landlords and tenant farmers will be undertaken on issues such as rent reviews, dispute resolution, waygo arrangements, farm diversification and fixed equipment.

Methodology

1.6 A self-completion survey was sent to 6,190 tenant farming businesses in Scotland, sourced from the Scottish Government's agricultural census database. Businesses were included only if they rented-in some or all of their land on a lease of one year or more, though it seems from returns that some only had seasonal lets. Those who had both a croft and farmland were advised not to include their croft land and activities when completing the survey. A further 30 questionnaires were sent out in response to requests to be included in the survey from others who rented-in land. These requests may have been from those who had not filled out a census form or whose circumstances had changed since completing a census form.

1.7 Fieldwork took place between 22 January and 10 March 2014. All tenant farming businesses in Scotland were sent a copy of the survey by post. The questionnaire is provided in Appendix A. The front page of these surveys included a unique link to an online version which could be completed in place of the postal survey if desired. Those who had not completed the survey were sent a postal reminder one month before the end of the fieldwork period, with another reminder sent out two weeks before fieldwork ended.

1.8 Of the initial 6,220 addresses, 475 were returned as undeliverable or considered out of scope for some other reason such as the land being no longer farmed, no longer rented, or that the named respondent had died. A total of 3,095 surveys were completed across both modes - postal surveys were completed by 3,026 respondents, with a further 69 surveys completed online, giving an overall final response rate of 53%.

1.9 Results were weighted to reflect the distribution of tenant farmers by regional location and type of farm according to the Agricultural Census.

1.10 Table 1.1 shows the unweighted and weighted number of respondents by broad geographical area^[2]. Response rates were lowest in the North West (42%) but broadly similar across the other areas.

Table 1.1: Respondents by area

1.11 Table 1.2 shows the spread of respondents by the type of farming that takes place on their agricultural tenancy. Response rates were highest among tenants of Livestock (LFA cattle and sheep) over 80 hectares farms (63%) and lowest among Other farms (35%).

Table 1.2: Respondents by type of farm

1.12 The survey findings represent the views of those farmers who replied, and not the entire population, so they are subject to sampling tolerances. This means that not all differences will be statistically significant. Throughout the report, differences between sub-groups are commented upon only where these are statistically significant, i.e. where we can be 95% certain that they have not occurred by chance, and are on the assumption that there is no response bias.

1.13 Where respondents have left a question blank, these have generally been excluded from the base. Where percentages do not sum to 100%, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of 'don't know' categories or multiple answers.

1.14 The final page of the questionnaire gave space for respondents to add any additional information not covered in the survey that they thought important to the future of the sector. We have included some of these comments throughout the report. These are illustrative only and will not necessarily reflect the proportion of respondents who hold such views.