Alec Swan==Help!

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FairyLights

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maybe you can help answering a question for me. Was discussing grass livery fees with a mate and I maintain that in real terms they are much lower than they were in the 1970's.
Back then I rented 5 acres from a farmer. I paid him about twice as much as he would have made from keeping his dairy cattle on the field. A neighbouring farm used to charge about double what their profit would have been from keeping sheep on the fields.
So what is the expected profit off 5 acres ? I guess 4 sheep to the acre so 20 sheep. I'm thinking £600 per year? am I on the right lines?
If so then as a horse owner I would be expecting to pay £100 a month for the field nowadays.
Thanks in advance.:)
 
Horsesforever1 said:
maybe you can help answering a question for me. Was discussing grass livery fees with a mate and I maintain that in real terms they are much lower than they were in the 1970's.
Back then I rented 5 acres from a farmer. I paid him about twice as much as he would have made from keeping his dairy cattle on the field. A neighbouring farm used to charge about double what their profit would have been from keeping sheep on the fields.
So what is the expected profit off 5 acres ? I guess 4 sheep to the acre so 20 sheep. I'm thinking £600 per year? am I on the right lines?
If so then as a horse owner I would be expecting to pay £100 a month for the field nowadays.
Thanks in advance.:)
Click to expand...

I'm not Alec, but I think I could help here. Of course in depends on where in the country, but grazing rents vary from around £50/acre/season to more like £200.
When it comes to rent, it works a bit different, as the Single Payment comes into the equation.
The general guideline for summer grazing is 6 ewes plus their followers per acre, some people charge/pay per ewe, but I don't know how that works.
 
I've only just found your post, and I apologise for not replying sooner. I'm not really too sure how I can help you, but I'll try;

It seems to me that your question is about the current expected profit margin from 5 acres. That would depend upon so many differing and converging factors, that it would be near impossible to answer, accurately. For instance, 5 acres as a proportion of a 50 acre field, will be worth and produce a great deal more in the way of revenue, than 5 acres of land which because of it's soil quality, or its location, or its lack of accessibility, or its perceived value.

Land values and the attached usage values have changed dramatically. "Generally", it's my understanding that letting tends to run at about £100 per acre, so your suggested prices would probably still hold true. HOWEVER, and you must promise not to shout at me now, it's an often held view that though girls and horses can often bring in an excellent return, the grief which accompanies them, outweighs the income. I did say "often", I didn't say always! :o

I would also add that those 5 acres will be bringing in a hidden income, hidden from you, that is! It's called the SFP!

Is that any help? If you can put up specific questions, I'll have another go at it!!

Alec.
 
Alec , many thanks! So, thinking that rent is about £1,200 per year as a horse owner is correct [ish]. thats settled a friendly discussion with a friend.
re horses, girls and problems, EXACTLY why, now I have my own place, I refuse to have liveries or rent out to other horse owners. Been there, got the t-shirt.[ runs and hides behind the sand bags].
However, renting to horse owners does still have the potential to be more profitable but maybe not as much as it used to be. Enough waffle from me. thanks again.
signing off to go and watch telly.
 
Around here (North West) standard grazing land is not really available for rent as most land is used for arable farming (or stock). I pay £175 per acre for my field (sublet from Lord Derby's Knowsley Estate) which is over the top (according to all my neighbouring farmers) but I am paying for the convenience of renting a useful chunk of land directly attached to my own property. I nearly made the field pay for itself this year even with a really ****** crop of hay and paying a contractor to bale it, but the last 2 months I have had to buy in haylage for my horses/donkey/sheep which means it's cost my a couple of hundred quid. Nobody is in this job to get rich though are they?
ETA I am also paying for 9 acres when my field is 8.33 acres, but 5 years of being nice to the farmer wasn't worth falling out over £175 ;)
 
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Right, so if we consider the figure of £100 per acre, then there are the extras. Let us imagine that our 5 acres has 4 stables attached, with a decent hard standing and running water. That becomes 4 horses, which for stabling and turn out, would be £15 per week, each? Multiply 15 x 4 x 52 and we end up in excess of £3k pa. Accepting that stables need to be in place (£5K?), then generally, 5 acres doesn't show a £3k return, PER ANNUM!

There is, as you accept, the grief factor, but for all that, horses can show a return. ;)

Alec.
 
£15 per week, I was paying that over 30 years ago per horse and the grazing wasn't that good (ragwort), but not many farmers were renting grazing for horses at that time, it's only the past few years they have caught on, and I can see rents going up for grazing as land starts to get in short supply.
 
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