Dear Sirs,
Jeanette Wilson’s recent letter highlights a lack of transparent information on farm rents, which is a concern for many tenant farmers faced with rent reviews or when tendering for a new tenancy.
STFA has long campaigned for up to date rent information to be made available to all, through a rental database, but due to data protection laws a compulsory database would be difficult to implement and a voluntary one would be open to abuse; landlords might only submit their higher rents achieved, and tenants only the lower.
However, Scottish Government understood the need for impartial farm rent information, and their statisticians now produce each year the survey titled ‘Tenanted Agricultural Land in Scotland’. Included is information on farm rents, by region and by farm type, and percentage changes over the year. 
Due to the need for data protection of individual rents, only averages and the range of rents are given, but the annual survey provides a good picture of farm rents in Scotland.
The Scot Gov surveys are available on line, and here is the link to the latest one for 2015: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00499434.pdf 
I would recommend that any tenant with a rent review or tendering for a tenancy takes a look. 
Other sources of farm rent information include NFUS and STFA who keep information supplied by their membership, both of whom should be able to help. Land agency firms also keep rent databases, and from time to time publish reports on farm rents. 
Finally, the most direct way to find out about farm rents is to speak to tenants. In the past, rents paid were rarely discussed but over the last decade tenants have discovered the benefits of sharing information on rents, especially so at the time of rent reviews.
Openness and transparency of information is essential for a fair rent review or when tendering for a tenancy, and these days we have a number of good sources to help the process.


Christopher Nicholson
Chairman 
Scottish Tenant Farmers Association