Twenty Years On: What You Helped Create

£800,000 had been raised by close to 8,000 amazing strangers from around the world, all coming together to save our family home.

It was an incredible achievement, and one that will always be celebrated. However, for me and Ben, it was the 100-year Farm Business Tenancy that followed that made that achievement even more meaningful.

This tenancy meant that our family, andthe next generation of Hollins (as long as they are good land stewards!), have the opportunity to continue our livelihood here and further Dad’s organic legacy.

Since then, Ben has farmed the land like it is his own. He has invested in the soil, the buildings, the trees and his livestock. Carefully selecting animals that will become the next generation of mothers, planting grasses that will provide harvests in years to come, and nurturing trees that will provide benefits over the forthcoming decades.

He invests in the farm not because government subsidies tell him to, but because he knows it is what is best for the farm and for the soil. And he knows that he and his family will be here to reap the rewards.

He has the time to try things out, observe nature, understand the soil and adapt each year to improve the foundations we have here at Fordhall.

Sadly, this is not the norm.

The average Farm Business Tenancy in England in 2024/2025 was just 5 years and 9 months. When you add this to the fact that almost half of our farmland is tenanted, and less than half of that tenanted land is rented as Farm Business Tenancies, it leaves the rest on much shorter, lower-security lease agreements.

Unless you are lucky enough to own yourown land, long-term planning is almost non-existent.

This means many farmers have no choice but to farm in a way that guarantees an income. That could be linked to the volume of crops grown, or shifting towards whichever government subsidy will pay the most.

Whilst this is a sad story, it also means that what you have created at Fordhall is something to celebrate all the more.

You decided, as a collective of citizens, to put the environment, food security and community above profits.

And that is a message we hope to continue with our newest share offer.

Charlotte Hollins, General Manager