The future of rural land ownership

I published the first edition of The Rural Report ten years’ ago. If you asked me what has changed since then then I would say nothing and everything.

Nothing in the sense that a significant proportion of the UK’s farming businesses still rely on support payments to break even, but everything because that safety net is about to be swept away.

Subsidies based on the amount of land farmed will be replaced by incentives for delivering environmental and other benefits - public money for public goods.

Policy, however, is very different now as I discuss in a thought-provoking interview with the economist Professor Dieter Helm about his soon to be published book Net Zero.

Instead of creating profitable new income streams, farmers will have to make fundamental changes to their core businesses to cut carbon emissions and reduce other forms of pollution under the “polluter pays” principle.

Making those changes now though will make businesses more resilient for the future and The Rural Report is full of insight from our rural asset management experts on how to make the change.

We also feature inspiring case studies from forward-thinking estates like Blenheim on embracing the future to benefit communities, the environment and the bottom line.

Do download a copy of the report to read more or head to the new section of the Intelligence Lab dedicated to The Rural Report