A handshake, a farm business tenancy and a grazing licence
The home farm is owned. The block across the road is rented on a farm business tenancy, with a rent review coming at some point. Twenty acres by the village are on a grazing licence from a retired farmer, paid half yearly. You let a field to a neighbour's horses for the summer, paid when he remembers. A cropping licence on some land further away runs for one season. There is an arrangement with a neighbour for stubble turnips and sheep that was agreed over a pint.
Each one has its own paper, or none. Rents go out by standing order, by cheque, or by bank transfer when the invoice arrives. Income comes in unevenly. The dates that matter, when a licence ends, when notice must be given, when a rent review can be triggered, sit in documents in a filing cabinet and in people's memories.
Why land agreements are hard to keep track of
The number of agreements grows gradually, one at a time, and each is handled in whatever way suited at the start.
- Formal tenancies, licences and informal arrangements are all mixed together.
- Payment frequencies vary: quarterly, half yearly, annually, or per head of stock per week.
- Some payments go out and some come in, through different routes.
- Key dates are buried in documents and not in any calendar.
- Land parcels in agreements do not always match how you name fields or record them for schemes.
What each agreement means legally, and what notice or review rules apply, is a question for your land agent or solicitor. We do not advise on it. The admin problem is simply knowing what you have, what is due and when.
What slipping dates and payments cost
A missed notice date on a licence or tenancy can have consequences that outweigh years of rent. A payment not received for months may be awkward to chase later, especially with a neighbour. A rent paid twice, or not at all, sours a relationship with a landlord.
Land agreements also affect scheme paperwork, field records and cropping plans. Land coming out of your control at the end of a licence needs planning for, and land coming in needs setting up in your records before you start work on it.
One register for every piece of land you use or let
What we build is a land agreements register linked to your fields and your bank.
- Every agreement is recorded: the other party, the land (linked to your field map), the type of agreement as you or your agent describe it, start and end dates, rent or fee and how it is calculated, payment dates and direction.
- The documents themselves are attached, scanned where they are paper. Key terms you want to see at a glance are entered by you or your agent, not extracted and relied on without checking.
- Key dates you identify with your agent, such as end dates, notice dates and review dates, go into a calendar with reminders at intervals you choose.
- Expected payments are generated from each agreement's terms, and your bank feed, or your accounts software, is matched against them. Late, missing or different payments are flagged.
- Per-head grazing arrangements can take stock numbers and weeks from your livestock records to work out what is due.
- Each field shows which agreement it is under, so crop and scheme records know what land is in hand.
| Agreement | Direction | Payment pattern | Next key date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm business tenancy | Out | Quarterly | Review date you entered |
| Grazing licence, village fields | Out | Half yearly | End of licence |
| Horse grazing to neighbour | In | Monthly | End of summer |
| Cropping licence | Out | Annual | End of season |
| Sheep on stubble turnips | In | Per head per week | When stock leave |
A quarter day, handled
At the quarter, the register has already listed the rent due on the tenancy, and the standing order shows as paid. The neighbour's horse grazing shows one month unpaid, and you mention it next time you see him. A reminder tells you that a grazing licence ends in three months and that you noted a notice date before that, so you ring your land agent now, not afterwards.
When the sheep come off the stubble turnips, the register works out the per-head charge from the dates and numbers in your livestock records, and the invoice goes out that week.
Signs your land agreements need a register
- Agreements are a mix of documents, emails and handshakes.
- You rely on memory for notice, review and end dates.
- Some rents or grazing fees received are chased late, if at all.
- Field records and scheme paperwork do not show which land is under which agreement.
- Per-head grazing charges are worked out on the back of an envelope.