oldoaktree
Member
- Location
- County Durham
That’s about right most land will change hands every 100 years or so
America's largest farmland owner (242,000 acres)
- Thread starter JP1
- Start date
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
Nope.
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
What do you need to do to qualify for having the balls to farm yourself?
Be a farm worker, farm manager, share milker, contract farmer, tenant or land owner?
I'd argue the first 5 were all still employees, just with different levels of financial risk, security and income. Screw any of them up and you're out of a job, so they all have risk. You still depend on a land owner allowing you to farm though.
The only way to truly do what you want is to be in the last category.
I think all of them make you a farmer of some kind though.
kiwi pom
Member
- Location
- canterbury NZ
I think one problem UK Ag has now is that a lot of farms are broken up and sold instead of being sold as a unit.
30 acres here 50 there maybe a bit near a main road retained for development and the farmer may decide to keep the house and rent out or convert the buildings. You end up with expanding farms having to take on bits of land all over the place which increases costs making it harder to compete at world prices.
You actually need rich folk like Dyson with the ability to pay top whack for a complete unit and keep it together, perhaps buying the neighbours unit to combine them.
On the other hand if UK land was only worth agricultural value, it might be kept in one block? Inheriting it may not be so attractive for some then.
Everything's complicated.
oldoaktree
Member
- Location
- County Durham
That’s also true .
I’ve only a very small spot now and I’ve 4 different neighbours one is another small farm with a very small yard . The other 3 just have a block of land each the nearest commercial farm with yard is about 3 miles away . There’s not many full farms left with yards left around me .
If a nearby farm comes up for a lot of the value from buying a farm is in the Steading 3-4 barn conversions with or without paddocks can even in’t north sell for upwards of £500k each . It’s a chunk of money then to use on a main steading to up grade yards and sheds . With modern machinery land away from a main steading is much easier managed. Sell the house and maybe the land looks cheep . Fair few costs involved but fortune favourites the brave.
76masseyman
Member
- Location
- Lincolncestershire
I don’t see how Dyson can be classed as greedy, it’s not like the land he bought was all for sale, and he waded in grabbing it from under everyone else.
According to my notes from a talk a few years ago, he had acquired 32,500 acres over 6 years. This brought a massive intake of breath in the hall as everyone looked at the map. But then, two small parcels of land were highlighted as, at the time, these were the only two areas bought from their UK owners. The rest was bought back from foreign investors and returned to full U.K. ownership.
At the time of this 32,500 acres, Beeswax farming employed 67 full time staff, that’s one person to every 485.074 acres, which looks to me, compared to many agricultural sites, quite well staffed, so a good local employer.
Any outside contractors brought in, for maintenance, farm work, fabrication, drainage etc are as local as possible.
Is it a tax dodge, well he was worth back then 7.8 Billion, would buying 32,500 acres make such a dent in his fortune to be worth being a tax dodge ?
Ok, he has bought more land since, but does this extra make him greedy, I mean to be a buyer of land, there has to be seller of land first !
According to my notes from a talk a few years ago, he had acquired 32,500 acres over 6 years. This brought a massive intake of breath in the hall as everyone looked at the map. But then, two small parcels of land were highlighted as, at the time, these were the only two areas bought from their UK owners. The rest was bought back from foreign investors and returned to full U.K. ownership.
At the time of this 32,500 acres, Beeswax farming employed 67 full time staff, that’s one person to every 485.074 acres, which looks to me, compared to many agricultural sites, quite well staffed, so a good local employer.
Any outside contractors brought in, for maintenance, farm work, fabrication, drainage etc are as local as possible.
Is it a tax dodge, well he was worth back then 7.8 Billion, would buying 32,500 acres make such a dent in his fortune to be worth being a tax dodge ?
Ok, he has bought more land since, but does this extra make him greedy, I mean to be a buyer of land, there has to be seller of land first !
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
No, he was a buyer first, he approached them first
oldoaktree
Member
- Location
- County Durham
They didn’t have to sell ! Or sell to him!
Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
When I was ten I went to visit my fathers friend mid 80’s they in garden looking over neighbouring farm drinking whiskey, his friend says In the morning that will all be mine ! My dad says how do you make that out ? Cos im the only farmer round here with the money to buy that, my father laughed and said but anyone could offer not just farmers , in the morning a Solisitor was the new owner of said farm and I think my fathers friend died bitter that a non farmer could possibly buy a farm ! Great lesson for a ten year old boy. A Solisitor bought it but a farmer sold it like 99.9% to the highest bidder . And the Solisitor farmed it well till this day .
Not all of them. I know of 4 farms he bought on the open market.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Four out of how many?
76masseyman
Member
- Location
- Lincolncestershire
65 if there only allowed to be 500acres in the future.
Thats four I know about out of the many he has bought. I used to contract farm 2 of them. Another 1 was the Rothamsted research station at Compton, Berks and that was well covered in the media. I wasn’t aware you were in his acquisition team to know so much.
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
3 generations . . .
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
So is rothhampstead closed?
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
You can rent as much as u like
oldoaktree
Member
- Location
- County Durham
That won’t work the wealthy people will just push the prices up .
That one is. Others are still going.
Hilly
Member
- Location
- Scottish Borders.
Clogs to clogs .