The Tenant Farmers Association is setting up a stand at the Great Yorkshire Show this week to continue its campaign for more recognition of the contribution that its members make to producing Britain’s food.

Tenant farmers have suffered particularly badly in the past decade when subsidies were switched by Labour from actual food production to environmental protection schemes – and in some cases, those grants are being paid to the landlords rather than to the people who actually work the land.

In setting up their stand at the Great Yorkshire, TFA National Vice-Chairman, Stephen Wyrill commented: “The tenanted sector is responsible for farming at least one third of the agricultural area of England and Wales. In addition, the TFA is aware of a significant amount of informal letting arrangements where rent changes hands on the basis of little more than a hand shake.

“Adding this together with the formally recorded tenanted sector could bring the total amount of land farmed by non-owners under some form of tenancy agreement to around 40% of the total agricultural area of England and Wales. It is therefore a very significant constituency of interest in its own account”.

The TFA will be on stand 653 on avenue G at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate, between 13 and 15 July.