Family Farms: A Challenge For Many, An Opportunity For Others
I was born and spent the first 10 years of my life in the village of Chagford, a farming community on Dartmoor.
Several of my Primary School friends came from farming families, and there was no question that when they left school, they intended to work on the family farm and eventually take it over from their parents. Some attended agricultural colleges, like myself, who went to the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, where I studied Rural Estate Management.
Today, about 54% of farms in the U.K. are owner-occupied, and many of these are traditional family farms that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Some family farms have had the ability to diversify to increase their incomes such as opening farm shops, doing Bed and Breakfast, growing Christmas trees or creating a solar farm. However many family farms have little option but to solely derive their income from livestock or arable crops.
One of the most noticeable changes over the last 50 years has been the huge increase in the price of agricultural land across the U.K. In the early 1970s, farmland was worth an average of about £1,000 per acre.
The average size of a farm in Devon in 2025 is 69 hectares, or 170 acres. The price of good arable land has risen to about £15,000 per acre, and when you add in the houses and farm buildings, the average farm in the Westcountry is worth over £3m.
As Jeremy Clarkson highlighted, the financial return from farming is extremely low, usually between 1-2%, due to the increasing costs of labour, machinery, and inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, and fuel. Virtually no other businesses would accept such a low profit margin.
In 2024, the highest proportion of farmers (38%) were aged 65 years and over, and so many would be planning to retire over the next few years and pass on the family farm to the next generation.
It is no wonder that there has been such an outcry from family farmers over the Autumn 2024 Budget announcements about the reduction in agricultural property relief when Inheritance Tax is due on the transfer of the farm from one generation to the next.
There has been no opportunity for farmers to save from income generated on the farm for this tax payment.
Sadly, some of these family farms will be forced to sell. However, this will present opportunities for others wishing to purchase a farm.
Acquiring a farm offers many advantages to a new entrant, such as a change of lifestyle, the opportunity to raise children in the countryside, and the opportunity to increase wildlife by creating ponds and planting trees.
Over the last eight years, in my capacity as a former Chartered Surveyor and Agricultural Valuer, and now as a Buying Agent, I have helped a number of Recoco Property Search clients find and purchase agricultural properties in the South West.
I look forward to helping more clients realise their dreams and aspirations in 2025.
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