County farms in Cornwall should help new young farmers in the industry

That was the view of some key witnesses speaking at an inquiry that the council is currently undertaking into the future management of its farms estate.

A panel of councillors is holding a number of inquiry days which invite people from the farming industry both in Cornwall and further afield to give their views on the council’s farms, how they are managed and what should be done with them in the future.

Today saw six more people giving evidence including representatives from the National Trust, Duchy of Cornwall and the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

Bill Clarke, the founder and owner of Trewithen Dairy, attended the inquiry as a representative of Cornwall Agri-food Council.

He said that since he started farming in Cornwall in the 1990s he had been “part of the great transition of Cornwall to become this phenomenal brand of food providers”.

Mr Clarke said: “As an industry going forward we have a massive opportunity to build on where we are.

“What is required to do that, we have got to help the farmers to be modern and forward thinking. The Cornwall Council farms are key as part of what is required to deliver that.

“We have some fantastic traditional farmers in the county but we desperately need fresh, young, forward-thinking farmers and that is where the council can help.”

He added: “It is about giving opportunities to young people to come in and giving opportunities to really get started and build up and raise the game with technology and move forward with the modern world.”

Mr Clarke said that the council should be investing in its farms and providing good quality equipment and infrastructure to help new entrants into farming.

When asked about the council’s role in environmental growth on its farms he said that it was a good idea but said that the council should not expect farmers to pay for such initiatives.

He said that while the council could encourage tenants to promote environmental growth it would also have to provide the money to pay to do so.

 Nick Lawrence and Alex Reader from the National Trust said that their experience of managing land was slightly unique in that they also have to maintain public access to a lot of its sites.

But they told the councillors that they were keen to promote environmental growth and had a strategy which dealt with this.

Mr Lawrence said that all land owners were tackling this issue in different ways but said that the most important aspect was that everyone is heading in the same direction.

Jeremy Oatey farms land in south east and mid Cornwall and also runs a vegetable processing business supplying businesses in the south west.

He said that investment and improvement was a key to helping the farms in future.

“I would say that the farms estate has got to enable people to become farmers in their own right and sustain a business,” he said.

Mr Oatey said that it was people that were the key to the future success of the farms estate and the council should ensure that it helped new farmers to get started and then make the progression to other farms.

He said that the council would have to be flexible about how it helped young farmers saying that some might need 10 years to get started and build a business.

This would require the council to have a range of tenancies that it could offer to people coming into farming.

Mr Oatey added that with different types of farming businesses having different requirements there was no “one size fits all ” approach which could be used by the council in managing its farms.

But one of the most important aspects for the council should be providing well equipped farms according to Mr Oatey.

He said: “If you have got well invested farms where someone can go in and generate an income by whatever means they will be happen and will give you a decent return.

“If they go into somewhere that is run down and it will take them 10 years to sort out then you are not going to get what you want.”

Ashley Taylor, assistant land steward for the Duchy of Cornwall, responded to questions from councillors about whether it should set standards for farming carried out on its land or direct tenants to adopt specific farming methods such as organic and free range.

He said: “The concept is a good one but most farmers will want to deliver a good product and be proud of it anyway, do you want to limit them to what they can do?

“You don’t want to label them and say you must have to conform to these certain standards, but to have broad guidelines that you would like to see is a better approach.”

Mr Taylor said that the Duchy did have standards which it expects tenants to maintain but said that these were monitored on a farm-by-farm basis and not done in a blanket approach.

Patrick Aubrey-Fletcher, NFU county advisor for Cornwall, said that he thought that county farms were “a really important way into farming for those who don’t have the opportunity to move onto their parents’ farm or don’t have the capacity to buy a farm”.

He said: “The most important part of this is the whole question of opportunity. The opportunity for new entrants and young entrants to come into farming.”

Mr Aubrey-Fletcher said that there were also big opportunities for rural businesses from the county farm estate adding that he thought the importance of farms was “under-estimated”.

He said it was also important for the council to have land that is available for different uses and said that there were always opportunities for reorganisation which could provide funds which could be reinvested into the county farm estate.

The rural surveyor said that there was also an opportunity for the council to help with providing affordable rural housing.

Nick Millard from Reading University has worked on a number of studies in agriculture, farms and the rural economy.

He said that a study he had done in 2012 of county farms showed that Cornwall had performed well against national standards.

Mr Millard said that while some councils had decided to dispose of their farms it was key that Cornwall had kept its estate while undertaking a progressive rationalisation.

He said that it would be a mistake for the council to start “directing” tenants about what they should and should not do, but said that working in partnership with them and making clear their objectives would be a better approach.

Mr Millard also complimented the Cornish brand and the success that farms and food producers have had in the county and in promoting produce across the UK and further afield.

The farms strategy inquiry is set to continue and its final recommendations will be made to Cornwall Council’s neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee in September.