Farm Rents Up By Over 5% In 2008

The ONS/DEFRA estimates of farm rents statistics show Full Agricultural Tenancies (FAT), Farm Business Tenancies (FBT) and Seasonal agreements for 2004 to 2008 have risen by over 5%.

FAT agreements increased by 5.1% to £136/ha in 2008 compared with £130/ha in 2007. The FBT agreements increased by 5.4% to £160/ha largley due to an 11.4% increase in the price of cattle and sheep farms in lowland areas and a 9.8% rise in the average rent of arable farms.

The average rent for dairy farms under FAT agreements continued to rise last year to £167/ha. Cattle and sheep farms also increased again from £106/ha in 2006 to £123/ha in 2008. Seasonal agreements rent prices decreased from £117/ha in 2007 to £107/ha in 2008. The most significant contributor to the increase under FAT agreements was from general cropping farms which saw a 9.6% increase between 2007-8 and cattle and lowland sheep at 8.3%. Cattle and sheep in less favoured areas (LFA) offset the trend with a decrease of 2.3%. The overall total area of rented land decreased by 2.1% from 1,768.7 to 1,731.1 thousand ha.

As regards farms under FBT agreements the main contributors were cattle and lowland sheep with an increase of 11.4% between 2007-8 and general cropping at 9.8%. The increases were offset by a decrease in the rents of dairying land of 1.2%. The total area under FBT agreements increased by 3.2% from 1,022.2 thousand ha in 2007 to 1,054.5 thousand ha in 2008. The main contributors were cereal farms with 5.5% and cattle and lowland sheep with 5.3%. There was a fall in the area in dairying of 1.4% and general cropping of 1.1% which helped to offset the increase in area in 2008. The average rents for farms under seasonal agreements in 2008 was £107/ha, a fall of 8.5% on 2007 at £117/ha.

The most expensive area in terms of FAT agreements by region was the South East at £162/ha, followed by the East of England at £157/ha and the least expensive was the North East at £99/ha. The most expensive area by region under FBT agreements was the East of England at £180/ha and the least expensive was the North East at £147/ha.