PICTURE: TIM SCRIVENER
New Environmental Farm Business Tenancies (eFBTs) will put in place an agreement which will provide the 鈥榞uardrails' for farmers to continue long-term sustainable food production while delivering enhanced nature recovery across the Crown Estate.
That was the message from Paul Sedgwick, deputy ranger and managing director of Windsor and rural at the Crown Estate, who added that the first new eFBTs would be issued this autumn and that they would continue to be rolled out across the estate portfolio as existing FBTs expire.
Tenant farmers
In April 2022, the Crown Estate launched a new strategy for its rural portfolio, with the intent of moving from a passive 鈥榟ands-off' institutional landowner to developing a more 鈥榗ollegiate relationship' with its farmers.
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Mr Sedgwick said: "We aim to take a leading position to drive forward systemic change across the let land sector to help tackle some of the key issues facing the UK today 鈥� this includes the journey to net zero, the nature and biodiversity crisis, and the need to produce food sustainably and profitably." He added food production remained 鈥榓t the core of our rural strategy'. "The key motivation behind the eFBT was to develop a new style of FBT to enable both the Crown Estate and its farmers to overcome these challenges," he said.
'Working closely'
When probed if tenant farmers had been consulted, Mr Sedgwick said they had been 鈥榳orking closely' with focus groups of farmers across a small number of estates where the new eFBT would be piloted this year. Mr Sedgwick said: "There is obviously some nervousness when you start making changes, but we are committed to the long-term future of the tenanted farming sector and we need a farm tenancy agreement that reflects the competing land use challenges that we face today and we will face in the future.
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"This is our considered attempt at answering these challenges 鈥� it might not be 100% right, but it is a promising start. I have no doubt that it will evolve as our farmers, their agents and the Tenant 草榴社区 Association [TFA] provide feedback, which we will be actively seeking from them in order to deliver something that works for everybody." He said the estate wanted to understand 鈥榯ension points' and work through them to find an agreement which was 鈥榝it for the future', adding he was under 鈥榥o illusion' it would be perfect from the outset but that it had to 鈥榮tart somewhere'.
Data collection
When asked if tenants would be required to measure and collect data as part of an eFBT, he said there was a need to be able to 鈥榗onsistently measure the changes that [were] being made across all [the estate's] farms'. The estate was in discussions on how to provide a 鈥榦ne-stop-shop' for both farmers and the estate. "We envisage that setting up this data collection and the ongoing reporting will initially be paid for by the Crown Estate," he added.
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When asked what the average length of an eFBT would be, Mr Sedgwick said it would be an initial term of 15 years. He said that, on the whole, eFBTs were 鈥榝lexible enough' to cover most eventualities, but it was likely that there would be 鈥榮ome farms' where it was 鈥榥ot appropriate due to their soil type'.
Tenant 草榴社区' Association
TFA chief executive George Dunn said the Crown Estate had 鈥榳oken up' to the fact that the rural estate provided financial returns and was at the heart of 鈥榓chieving carbon net zero' and nature recovery.
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"The Crown Estate has told us that it wants to reimagine and re-engineer its relationships with its farm tenants to take more of a partnership approach than has hitherto been the case. "We are therefore working with the Crown Estate in the development of its FBT agreements to meet that goal," said Mr Dunn.听
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