The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: Welshlad on September 21, 2016, 07:29:22 pm
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How can sheep farmers pay up to £100/ acre for rented land and still make a profit?
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Perhaps they are claiming the countryside stewardship payments instead of the landowner
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I doubt farmers pay anything like that ...... it's us smallholders that bump up prices!
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Farmers around here pay that - for severely disadvantaged hill land, and sometimes with grazing density limits, too. But yes, the farmer would claim the basic payment.
How would a landowner make any money if rentals were lower?
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As to profit... Sheep don't make a profit, they are a necessary cost to farming subsidies off farm land.
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The basic payment is probably about £80 per acre....if the government in 2020 commit themselves to maintain it....very likely to up the acreage limit from 5 hectares.Even the Archers this lunchtime mentioned the farmers v NHS debate.....
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I charge £60 per acre and get the single farm payment of £80 per acre from Defra....for this the stock owner gets 12 acres well fenced land with auto water in 4 fields. I have to pay for the hedges to be cut/ditches to be cleared/moles to be caught/any trees that need to be cut/and weedkilling to be done and farm buildings that need to be maintained. Given the initial cost of the fencing (thousands) I will never make any money...just buy a few years of peace and quiet from the neighbours ..and the confidence to go away for a weekend and livestock won't get out.(or drop dead...but that happened this morning...lamb with flystrike. Oh and last night I was picking the maggots out of it.....and it still died!)