Clauses for a ‘Profit of Pasturage’ agreement - as an alternative to traditional farm business tenancy clauses - to promote regenerative farming methods controlled by the landowner.
Helps owners to retain control of their land to safeguard its long term soil value whilst receiving an income from grazing rights. Grantees can access well maintained grazing land without the commitment of a full tenancy. Both parties can achieve their interests in a manner consistent with good environmental practice.
1. Grant
In consideration of the Fee paid by the Grantee to the Owner on the Payment Date (receipt of which the Owner hereby acknowledges) the Owner grants to the Grantee the [sole] right of herbage on the Land during the Period.
2. Owner Covenants
The Owner covenants with the Grantee to:
2.1 mow or spray spear thistle, creeping or field thistle, curled dock, broad leaved dock and ragwort, where possible by precision farming methods to reduce the impact of pesticides on the environment;
2.2 within the provisions of the Cross Compliance Conditions [and the Code]:
2.2.1 keep the Land fertilised [using natural fertilisers];
2.2.2. reseed and crop the grass as necessary;
2.2.3 carry out such agricultural activity as is required to keep the Land in good agricultural condition; and
2.2.4 generally maintain the Land in a good husbandlike manner;
2.3 keep gates, fences and ditches in good order other than damage caused by the Grantee or its servants or agents, by any person attending or for the time being in charge of the livestock or by the livestock itself; and
2.4 [provide][contribute to the cost of] electric fencing on the Land to promote the use of rotational cropping methods in clause 4.2.
3. Parties to Act in Good Faith
The parties will each act in good faith[, using reasonable endeavours,] to manage the Land in a way that furthers the best interests and principles of Biodiversity Promotion and Climate Change Mitigation.
[Drafting note: Clause 3 sets a light touch expectation around collaboration. Consider extending this to provide more certainty to parties and an enforceable set of obligations, detailing how these requirements will be measured and what constitutes a breach.]
4. Grantee Covenants
The Grantee covenants with the Owner to:
4.1 keep the ratio of livestock to grazing land area to an appropriate level [(to be agreed in advance with the Owner)] to reduce negative impacts on the Land; and
4.2 use rotational grazing methods and rotate grazing animals frequently to promote soil improvements and minimise the need for inputs.
Biodiversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Biodiversity Promotion means to leave Biodiversity in a better state than before by providing an overall increase in natural habitat and ecological features, minimising losses of Biodiversity and helping to restore ecological networks[ in accordance with the Biodiversity Net Gain Good Practice Principles for Development published by the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management from time to time].
Climate Change Mitigation means human intervention or efforts to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of GHG Emissions.
Code means [the Code of Good Agricultural Practice published by DEFRA and current from time to time during the Period][insert some other measure or code of good practice].
Cross Compliance Conditions means the statutory management requirements and the standards for good agricultural and environmental conditions of land for the current claim years as published by the Rural Payments Agency.
GHG Emissions means emissions of the greenhouse gases listed at Annex A of the 1998 Kyoto Protocol to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as may be amended from time to time, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), each expressed as a total in units of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
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