The region’s farmers are hanging on to their most important asset – their land – as global demand for food means every square foot of farmland is put to work.
Less farmland will be sold in September than during the foot and mouth crisis, and agricultural experts in the region believe land owners will continue to keep hold of land until the recession starts to subside.
That’s against a backdrop where the value of farmland has risen by more than 100 per cent in the last five years, from £2,365 per acre in June 2005 to more than £5,800 today.
Leamington Spa farmer Harry Johnson, who is also the NFU Warwickshire chairman, said market forces meant farmers were focused on their main activity – farming.
“Farmers are holding on to their land simply because working it, rearing animals on it and managing it is their business,” he said.
“Traditionally the demand for land has long outweighed supply but this is simply because there is limited space and land available.
“Some buyers outside of agriculture have also fallen out of the market due to the recession and while some land is being sold, perhaps by those leaving the industry through retirement, it is often not on the market for very long as there are always people looking to expand their existing farm businesses.
“There might not be as much land for sale at the moment but normal market forces are prevailing and it’s business as usual as far as we are concerned.
“Land has never been more important especially with the demand for food and renewable energy higher than ever and farmers and growers are using every acre as wisely as possible to grow great produce, bolster the rural economy and support bio-diversity and wildlife.
Paul Rice, who heads law firm Wright Hassall’s farming and rural business team, said the volume of land sales at the moment was reminiscent of tough times in UK farming’s recent past.
“It looks as if fewer than 100,000 acres of farmland across the UK will have been publicly marketed by the end of the year,” he said.
“The last time such figures were recorded was in 2001, when foot and mouth disease all but closed the countryside, and then in 2003 and 2004 when there was uncertainty over how the single farm payment scheme would be introduced.
“These figures are very similar to those recorded during difficult periods in agricultural trade, but come under very different circumstances.
“Despite this difficult economic climate, farmland still represents a safe investment.
“There is still a demand for farmland, because there has been a 60 per cent increase in new buyers, the majority of whom are farmers looking to expand.
“The hitch is that the land owners do not want to sell their land because they know how valuable it is.
“That is certainly what we are finding here in Warwickshire.
“Despite the difficult harvest conditions, an increase in commodity prices means that farming has remained just about profitable, but farmers are having to use every square foot of land to ensure that continues.”
