21/12/05
The Tenant Farmers Association celebrates its silver jubilee in
2006 and in his New Year message TFA National Chairman Reg Haydon
looks back at how the Association has supported grass roots tenant
farmers over its first 25 years and how this remains its core purpose
into the future.
“The TFA was formed in 1981 by a small group of forward thinking
farm tenants who felt that the needs of grass roots farm tenants
were not being catered for by existing industry bodies. Over the
past 25 years the TFA has grown to be the major source of advice,
support and help to the tenanted sector in agriculture. The TFA
will always be an organisation which is focused on its members.
We maintain short lines of communication and in our lobbying we
punch hard for the tenanted sector and achieve results” said
Mr Haydon.
“In 2006 we are looking forward to the introduction of the
long awaited reforms to agricultural tenancy legislation agreed
by the Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) two years ago. TRIG
was formed following TFA lobbying and the necessary legislation
will be laid before Parliament early in the New Year and in law
by the summer according to Defra’s timetable. We have always
maintained that the Agricultural Tenancies Act introduced in 1995
allowed the pendulum to swing too far in favour of landlords. The
TRIG changes will go some way to redress that balance” said
Mr Haydon.
“An area where many tenants have been hampered by the law,
their tenancy agreements or their landlords is farm diversification.
The Government is keen to encourage farmers to diversify their
sources of income but many tenants are unable to do so. We are
hopeful that an industry agreed Code of Practice backed up by a
recently launched Adjudication Scheme run by the RICS will assist
tenants through 2006 in making sensible arrangements for farm diversification
with their landlords. If this does not happen then the Government
has promised to introduce new legislation to give tenants greater
rights in this area. We will not only be watching closely but actively
assisting our members through the process” said Mr Haydon.
“We will also be continuing our ongoing campaigns for rent
reductions; fair compensation for tenants who are forced by their
tenancy agreements to give up their Single Payment Scheme entitlements
to their landlords; fairer treatment of tenants who are forced
off their farms when landlords obtain planning permission and help,
particularly with housing, for those retiring tenants who have
virtually nothing to take with them when they leave their farms” said
Mr Haydon.
“In working hard for our members we have been dismayed at
how high politics within the EU and WTO negotiations at the end
of 2005 has belittled the needs of the hard working tenant farmers
we represent. It is too easy for the Prime Minister or Foreign
Secretary to sit in high level meetings in Brussels or Hong Kong
arguing for reductions in expenditure which assist our farmers
to maintain high standards of food production. Our members are
not afraid of free trade and open markets so long as the Government
addresses all that is needed to ensure a level playing field both
at home and in global terms. This includes formal regulation of
supermarkets, ensuring that imported food meets the same high animal
welfare, environmental, food safety and social standards as home
produced food and taking care not to compromise our food security
in what is sadly becoming a more insecure world. The TFA will be
at the fore front in tackling these issues in the year ahead” said
Mr Haydon.
 Tenancy diversification scheme welcomed by TFA
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of the Agricultural Rental Market are Changing
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Lettings Decline As Landlords Claim Cap Payments
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