Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Comment: Focus tenancy debate away from absolute right to buy

Survey responses must be submitted by October 20
Survey responses must be submitted by October 20

Scotland’s tenanted farming sector is on the brink of a new era.

However this will only happen if the Scottish Government comes up with a workable set of solutions which please all parties involved.

Spats between landlords and tenants have been going on for centuries and sadly these are likely to continue for centuries to come.

Yet a common thread of thinking seems to be emerging in the numerous pleas and evidence submissions batted around by industry over the past few months.

Everyone, as far as I can see, seems to agree that a new wave of thinking and legislation is needed.

All three agricultural mouthpieces – NFU Scotland, the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) and Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) – have called for the creation of a land commission or adjudicator to oversee relations between tenants and landlords with the authority to name and shame those engaging in bad practice.

Everyone also seems to agree that new legislation, whether that be in the form of grant funding or tax incentives, is needed to help new entrants into the sector and retiring tenants out.

However the one sticking point and bone of contention for many is the absolute right to buy (ARTB).

Landowners say they live in fear of being forced to sell their land, while the view with tenant farmers is mixed.

Some shout that the only way they can move their business forward is by owning their farm, yet others like Moray farmer Alastair Nairn say the concept is unworkable and will ruin the sector.

It would be a shame to let this one issue dominate debates, as it has done. Surely the way to move the sector forward is for all parties involved to get together and thrash out a way for their shared ideas to work.

We can only hope that farm minister Richard Lochhead and the review group he has tasked with outlining a vision for the sector will adopt the industry-wide recommendations rather than getting caught up in a debate dominated by the loud voices of the few.