Council sold ‘holdings’ rather than ‘farms’

I AM writing with regard to your recent report on the difficulties facing young farmers.

In the article, you claim Lincolnshire County Council has sold off 104 “farms” in the last decade. This is untrue.

In fact, the council has sold 104 “holdings”. As we made clear in our response to your freedom of information request, a holding cannot be equated with a farm.

For example, the 16 holdings we currently have in hand amount to 35 acres, with the biggest parcel of land being seven acres.

None of these holdings should be classed as a “farm”, yet your correspondent has chosen to do just that.

You also suggest that the council has a set policy of selling off farmland when the opportunity arises because of economic difficulties. Again this is simply not true.

In fact, the council deals with these matters on a case-by-case basis, taking the decision that is in the best financial interests of the taxpayer. In some cases, this does mean selling the land, but in others, it involves re-letting or amalgamating with other holdings.

The situation facing young farmers is a complex one. The industry has changed and many county farms holdings are now not of a sufficient size to be economically viable.

Many wanting to enter the industry will also struggle to obtain the level of financial backing needed to make it through the early years.