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60 Legal Focus ISSUE 64-15 AGRICULTURE Agricultural law is a vast practice area covering many varied and complex issues, from rural property issues to agricultural finance. To find out more, Lawyer Monthly speaks to Jon Robertson, Partner and head of Land and Property at Turcan Connell in Edinburgh. Established in 1997, Turcan Connell’s leading team of land and property experts have a wealth of experience in advising on all aspects of agricultural and rural property law. As well as handling the purchase, sale and leasing of agricultural property, they advise on all the legal aspects of managing rural property. This includes agricultural finance, mineral exploitation, agricultural subsidies, farming partnerships and tenancies. The firm also advises on the commercial development of rural property through activities such as forestry, fishing, shellfish farming and the sale of development land. They have considerable experience in all aspects of renewable energy developments including wind, hydro, biomass and anaerobic digestion. What are the most common types of case you deal with related to the agricultural industry? We advise clients on the whole range of agricultural law matters across Scotland but the main issues we come across relate to agricultural leasing. Representing both agricultural landlords and tenants and dealing with contentious and non-contentious agricultural law matters we handle everything from the constitution and termination of leases to rent reviews, irritancy, fixed equipment issues and subsidy questions. Uniquely, Turcan Connell has a contentious agricultural law unit where agricultural law specialists take agricultural law cases to the Scottish Land Court and beyond. What are the biggest challenges facing the Scottish agricultural Sector currently? The related issues of agricultural support and the profitability of farming are major challenges. The failures that arose in the implementation of the CAP reform and the ongoing uncertainties with regard to the basic payment scheme and future payment timetables are causing great concern and uncertainty in the market. Further challenges are created by the land reform proposals of the Scottish Parliament and the disincentive this creates to the letting of land to the great disadvantage of those seeking to spread their overheads across larger acreages. claims, the transfer of entitlements and take appeals through the relevant processes. On land reform we are currently involved with various industry membership organisations in advising on agricultural reform and briefing clients on the impacts on their businesses of the proposed legislation. The UK economy continues to make a slow but steady recovery from the financial crisis of 2008. Is this recovery being reflected in the agricultural industry? How? Scottish agriculture continues to experience low but volatile prices and at the same time increasing land prices. The phased reduction of agricultural support and the volatility of pricing as a result of world events and weather makes for an unstable economic platform. The safety net of renewables, ranging from farm scale wind to anaerobic digestion, is now threatened by the withdrawal or degression of support, by planning log jams and refusals and by grid capacity issues. Have there been any recent regulatory changes that have affected your work? The introduction of the basic payment scheme has generated an immense amount of work for farmers and their advisors, a process that has been made far more complicated than it had to be as a result of government constantly changing their position and very often with government guidance one day contradicting what was said the day before. IT glitches and delays in responding to queries made for a very challenging period this year. Constant government proposals for land reform create an unstable marketplace threatening inward investment prejudicing the let land market. Coupled with the withdrawal and degression of support for renewables, there have been too many significant impacts on rural businesses within a very short timeframe. Do you see the need for any changes? If so, please explain. There is a great need for clarity and certainty on the basic payment scheme. A huge amount of time has been wasted and many farmers will be prejudiced by the chaos surrounding this year’s application process. On agricultural holdings there has been a constant moving of the balance of power in favour of tenants to the extent that it is difficult to see why a landowner would now let land and existing landlordtenant relationships have been undermined. The simple fact that if a government truly wants agricultural land to be let, they only have to make the letting of land attractive to would-be landlords, has been forgotten. A balancing of the interests of landlords and tenants would benefit the whole of rural Scotland. LM How do you and your firm help clients overcome these challenges? Advising on the basic payment scheme and its implementation is extremely difficult because of the lack of information and the fact that the position is constantly changing. This is of great concern given the vital nature of these payments to Scottish agriculture. We advise on the entitlement to make Jon Robertson Tel: 0131 228 8111 | Email: jonathan.robertson@turcanconnell.com www.lawyer-monthly.com
Leading the way in rural property Rural property issues can be complex and may appear daunting. At Turcan Connell, our experienced team of legal advisers specialise in agricultural law and rural property. Whether you are a land owner or involved with land management, we advise on: • Agricultural law • Agricultural support • Crofting • Forestry • Conservation • Development sales • Land reform • Rural planning • Renewable energy We believe in an interdisciplinary approach which enables us to provide the very best advice and counsel to each of our clients. We are here to guide, inform and support you through this legal landscape. Contact one of our specialists today. Edinburgh Glasgow London Princes Exchange, 1 Earl Grey Street, Edinburgh EH3 9EE Tel: 0131 228 8111 Sutherland House, 149 St Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5NW Tel: 0141 441 2111 Follow us on Twitter @TurcanConnell enquiries@turcanconnell.com www.turcanconnell.com Turcan Connell is a Partnership of Scottish Solicitors regulated by The Law Society of Scotland.
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