There can be little doubt that farming is experiencing a brutal period. Conversations with TFA members increasingly begin with practical questions but quickly turn to deeper anxieties: how will next year’s crop be established, will banks continue lending and will overdraft facilities be extended? Everyone appears focused on how difficult the coming months are likely to be with the continuing impact of drought, animal disease and rising costs.

Pressure on farmers and a lack of Government understanding

This sense of pressure is widespread within the farming community. Farmers routinely feel their work has become a thankless task and that rural interests are too often met by Government with, at best, indifference. Political language matters and when ministers speak without demonstrating a proper understanding of farming, they deepen the impression that food production and countryside businesses are regarded as expendable. This becomes exacerbated when statutory agencies such as the Environment Agency and Natural England take an unnecessarily hostile approach in their engagement with the farming industry.

The result of all this is a serious risk for food security and national resilience. It should not take a war, a shortage or another major shock before policymakers listen. Recent events already provide enough warning not least wildfires intensified by the fuel load left where upland grazing has declined and bluetongue sweeping through parts of the country and damaging sheep flocks. Ministers cannot assume that farmers will remain available regardless of the pressures placed upon them.

Backing emergency interest-free crisis loans

In the context of the crisis situation impacting many across the farming industry, the TFA is backing an idea developed by the NFU calling on the Government to come forward with emergency, interest-free crisis loans for farmers to stave off irreversible loss of otherwise viable businesses and the knock-on effects for our food security and resilience as a nation. For such a time as this we need a financial bridge to a hopefully better and more profitable future particularly for the tenanted sector which lacks the security for commercial borrowing.

Why Michaelmas rent reviews must deliver a reset

Against that background, Michaelmas rent reviews must provide an opportunity for a reset within the tenanted sector of agriculture. If tenant farmers cannot secure rent reductions in the coming year, it is difficult to imagine when they ever will. Costs, yields and market conditions all point in the same direction. Rents have remained largely static for a long number of years and there are relatively few tenant notices served for the current year, although some landlord notices remain outstanding.

What the TFA is asking of tenants and landlords

The TFA is encouraging members to use existing notices to argue for reductions and, crucially, to serve notices now for the following year, because the formal process requires 12 months’ notice. The TFA is also urging all landlords, particularly major institutional landlords, to consider acting voluntarily to reduce rents or provide rent abatements rather than waiting for formal reviews.

Farmers are often told to control what they can.  Amidst volatile markets, rising inputs and extreme weather, rent is one of the few costs they can influence, so the process for resolving it must become faster and more effective. That includes making arbitration more accessible and less expensive – an issue which we are urging the Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector to take forward.

The case for rent reductions is overwhelming

The case for rent reductions is overwhelming. Drought, disease, stormier winters, persistently high costs and future fertiliser pressures all point towards a constrained outlook. Rents must become correspondingly lower. For tenant farmers, a reset is no longer optional, it is essential.

This blog was written by George Dunn, Chief Executive, Tenant Farmers Association. It is based on a piece, written for The Cumberland News, published on 30 September 2026.

-Ends-

Additional reading:

TFA Give Away! It’s Been a Brutal Year – How to Claim Your Free Rent Template Letters & Notices

TFA Media Release MR26/13 – Tenant Farmers Urged to Act on Autumn Rent Reviews

Further Resources from the TFA:

TFA members can get expert one-to-one advice and guidance, by calling TFA head office on 0118 930 6130.

• Find out about TFA membership benefits and rewards
• Browse our Blog archive for the latest news, including farming policy updates
• Explore upcoming TFA events, including webinars, shows and regional meetings

Media Enquiries

For press and media enquiries about any of these stories, please contact Julia Meadows, TFA Communications and Events Coordinator by calling TFA head office on 0118 930 6130 or 07887 777157.