Farms and large bare land blocks set for launch
A raft of farms is coming to the market this week, along with substantial blocks of bare land available.
Clarke & Simpson is bringing a commercial arable farm and a large block of cropping land in Suffolk to the market this month.
The firm says it has seen good activity in the market so far this year.
See also: What’s behind the rise in farmland sales in 2024
Burts Farm © Tom Norton/Clarke Simpson
Among the sales it has lined up is Burts Farm, a 421-acre holding near Drinkstone.
The property is being sold after the death of its long-term owner at a guide price of £5.545m as a whole, but is also available in up to four lots.
Selling agent Oliver Holloway is confident that it will generate a healthy level of interest.
“We have already seen some good activity in the land market early in 2024, and although there are some challenges ahead with the loss of basic payments and higher interest rates, we are confident that Burts Farm is likely to appeal to a wide audience of potential purchasers,” he says.
The ring-fenced farmland is mostly productive commercial Grade 3 arable land farmed for many years under a contract farming arrangement, typically in winter wheat, winter barley, sugar beet and oilseed rape.
The soils are productive loam and clay. Two grain stores have a combined capacity of about 1,300t, and among the other buildings is a Grade II traditional Suffolk barn under a thatched roof.
The Grade II listed timber-framed, part-moated farmhouse is likely to need refurbishment.
Large bare land blocks
The same agent is also selling 247 acres of land at Long Thurlow, Suffolk, at a guide price of £2.4m.
The land is Grade 3 and gently undulating, again with productive loam and clay soils.
Cropping under the current owner has been typically wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sugar beet and beans.
A Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship agreement runs on the land until 31 December 2027.
Land at Ashley Glebe Farm © Savills
Consolidation of land holdings by the current owners brings two further substantial blocks of bare arable land to the market through Savills.
Ashley Glebe Farm’s 222 acres of Grade 3 prime arable land at King’s Somborne, Hampshire, is coming to market at £3m, while the guide for 159 acres of land at Manor Farm, Fovant, Wiltshire, is £1.9m.
The Ashley Glebe land has been run under a contract farming agreement and is being sold as a whole or in two lots.
The ring-fenced block at Manor Farm has a mix of 109 acres of arable land and 25 acres of pasture.
Land at Manor Farm © Savills
Savills says this, together with woodland and the River Nadder and Fovant Stream flowing through the farm, could lend itself to a nature recovery or rewilding project.
The land is in a three-year Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, which started on 1 January 2024.
North Yorkshire dairy
Greenbank Farm © GSC Grays
A relocation by the current owner will see what is described as a first-class dairy farm, near Skipton, come to the market this week.
Greenbank Farm, currently home to a 120-cow herd, is fully equipped with modern livestock and dairy buildings, a 20:20 herringbone parlour, cubicle housing, slurry storage, loose housing and machinery buildings.
Selling agent GSC Grays says the farm, which is just over 110 acres, has seen considerable investment in recent years, including regular reseeding.
As well as a modernised four-bedroomed farmhouse, there is planning consent on a detached traditional barn for conversion to a five-bedroom dwelling.
Greenbank Farm sits alongside the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and is being sold as a whole at a guide price of £1.95m.
Pervin Farm © Andrew Chadd
Meanwhile, near Leominster, Sunderlands is launching Pervin Farm following a decision by the owner to retire.
This grassland and arable holding has 286 acres of Grade 2 and 3 land, a large range of modern and traditional buildings and an earth-walled silage pit.
There are two adjoining houses – the four-bedroomed farmhouse is linked to a three-bedroomed house converted from a former hop kiln.
Pervin Farm, which sits at the end of a 1.5 mile drive, is being sold at a guide price of £4m for the whole.