Making use of spare land

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Making use of spare land
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alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 9:47 am Post subject:
Around here, and I assume in other areas of the country, when you rent land, for agriculture it is called keep. "I have keep at so and so's farm"

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 9:52 am Post subject:

Alison

You seem to have some experience of this sort of thing. So perhaps you can answer one or two questions.

1. Is there some reason why land which appears unused might not be

2. What sort of size of land might a typical farmer be interested in letting me have (obviously I don't want a huge field, but I want to make sure it's worth tha farmers while)

3. What sort of price might I expect to pay (I want it as cheap as possible whilst still paying a fair price!)[/i]

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 9:52 am Post subject:

alison wrote:

Around here, and I assume in other areas of the country, when you rent land, for agriculture it is called keep.

"I have keep at so and so's farm"

Us small town folk just don't understand Country talk

I was thinking it was an acronym of the general principle:

"It never hurts to ask"

One of my very first jobs was through a temp agency for a pathetic rate, once I demonstrated I could do the job competently, I went straight to the boss and said how about cutting the agency out and paying me the rate for the job. Of course this was against all there agreements with the agency, so I did not think i stood a change. But I got it

You simply never know until you try things.

jema

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:04 am Post subject:

When a field appears unused it may just be in the grazing rotation. We have a couple of small paddocks that only get grazed at spcific times of the year, as they are near buildings and are my emergency winter, I have new lambs type grazing, they are also cut for silage, and finally I use one of them for camping for a couple of weeks in the summer. If you hadn;t been around here when there was livestock in you would think they are never used.

What exactly do you want to do. Not all areas will grow crops, so this would depend who you contact. Also, how would you want to harvest them.

How many and what livestock are you thinking. This will determine the size you are looking for.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:10 am Post subject:

I'm thinking of more land than I could get from an allotment, but not too much to handle.

In terms of use, I'm flexible. I'd probaly prefer the livestock angle, but I'm working to the find some land and use it for whatever its best suited to rather than find some land suited to a predefined plan.

If I go the livestock route I would probably be looking to keep goats with the aim of making cheese. Say upto 5 goats.

Crops would be a variety of the usual veg, spuds, brassicas, carrots beans etc. As I say the area I am looking at would not be huge so I would look to harvest by hand, but maybe a few helpers to ease the load.

alison
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:14 am Post subject:
I would go for it. Approach the farms direct. Do you have a farmers market near to you. Why not speek to some of the sellers there. It is hard to determine the cost, as not everyone does it for money. I give keep, for straw. Others may work a little on the farm.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:15 am Post subject:
Thanks for your replies Alison, you've been most helpful!

Joey

Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 191

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:30 am Post subject:

If the land is arable. The unused fields you see may be "set aside"
It is a european CAP thing. Or it could be conservation areas or headlands to attract payments from the Countryside Stewartship scheme.
I think the term for renting land on a annual basis is called conacre.
The land is rented for one day short of the whole year. This avoids legal problems if the same person rents the land year after year.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:36 am Post subject:

I've just found this definition if anyone is interested.

Conacre
This is a term used to describe land rented for the taking of a single crop, most commonly potatoes. Conacre was taken by tradesmen and small farmers but most usually by agricultural labourers who invested all or most of their earnings in potato ground from which to feed their families. The practice illustrates the limited r�le of retail markets in pre-Famine rural Ireland. Conacre rents were a frequent cause of agrarian violent, as population pressure increased. Farmers were encouraged by price trends to move into livestock farming and no longer found conacre lettings a profitable means of providing crop rotation.

Joey

Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 191

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:40 am Post subject:
I have just googled "conacre" and just discovered it is a very Irish term. I grew up with it and assumed it was a more global term. It originally was land given for the growing of one crop of corn or potatoes in lieu of wages. A corruption of "corn acre" Now it just means land rented on an annual basis as opposed to a long term tenancy.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:41 am Post subject:
I've just done the same!! You beat me to it Joey!!

Joey

Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 191

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 10:48 am Post subject:
Looks like you beat me to it, scarecrow

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 11:42 am Post subject:
I don't think you would be able to rent a field that is classified as agricultural and then use it to grow veggies. That would require a change of use, unfortunately. I think from the land use viewpoint, a "crop" is something like a whole field of oats or cabbages or potatoes. What you are talking about is more like market gardening, which I don't think is a bona fide use of "agricultural" land.

scarecrow

Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 115
Location: Manchester, Up North

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 12:49 pm Post subject:
Anyone got any idea how I can find out who owns a piece of land? Theres about an acre of land next to a pub nearby. It's rarely used except I occasionally see a few sheep grazing there.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 04 2:56 pm Post subject:

scarecrow wrote:

Anyone got any idea how I can find out who owns a piece of land?

For a small fee, you can do on-line searches:

https://www.landsearch.me.uk/

or

https://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/

BTW, a piece of land that occasionally has sheep on it doesn't sound unused to me - it is simply being rotated.

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