Right at the start of July, we gathered ourselves and headed into the fields of Groundswell. We were one of six organisations making up the newly formed and hugely successful Agroecology Tent, where we welcomed many new and existing landseekers and landowners for a chat. It felt like the audience at Groundswell really appreciated the need for a land matching service, with a steady stream of enquiries coming our way throughout the festival.
Of particular note was a visit from the Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Emma Reynolds, representing a follow up visit to our trip to see Dame Angela Eagle in London in April. Emma was receptive to each organisation’s policy asks, many of them bringing up the subject of access to land. At the forefront of the topic, Landmatch England illustrated our success in facilitating land sharing across England since launching in January and highlighted the need for secure funding to maintain the service, something the devolved governments have been providing to their respective land matching services for some time now.
On the rare occasion it was quieter at our stand we were able to sneak away and listen to a few talks. A highlight was ‘Landlords, Tenants, Nature and the Regenerative FBT’. The discussion really exposed how forward thinking Landmatch England are in supporting landowners and landseekers to collaboratively negotiate their lease terms together and to come to long term agreements that provide security. George Dunn shared an astonishing statistic that 80% of FBTs are for five years or less, this provides little confidence for landseekers making investments in the future of their regenerative businesses. Matt Morris, Exec. Director of Rural at the Duchy Estate, described how they had not only embedded a 25 year term in their Regenerative FBT but also sought to build in cooperation and collaboration as a way to support both thriving new businesses and the benefits for the wider farms. Notably Emma Chapman at Hertfordshire County Council shared their portfolio of Bio-diversity Net Gain Smallholdings with long term 20 year FBTs, and while long tenancies aren’t unusual for a County Council, the type of farmer they are seeking out has changed. Increasingly large land owners want tenants that are nature led and know how to integrate their farming operation with taking care of the land and the ecosystem that they are a part of.
We discovered at our panel discussion that regenerative farmers and landowners are hungry for insights as to how they can share land. Cordelia, Landmatch England Regional Coordinator, hosted landowner Tom Pearson and the landseeker he shares his farm with, Adrienne Gordon, who gave us a wealth of stories and anecdotes illustrating the ups and downs of how they had come to work together. Clearly one size does not fit all and landless farmer and land agent Holly Smith shared the various ways she has worked with landowners to be able to graze her flock of sheep and keep bees for honey. With a large audience, all sweltering in the heat, we really understood the demand for a land matching service. With any luck, you’ll find us at Groundswell again next year, in the Agroecology tent and talking once more about what it’s like to share land.
Written by Hannah Padgett, SW Regional Coordinator
Photo Credit: Sarah Whittick, Cider Apple Trees / Cordelia Hughes, Landmatch England
Trewint Farm is a family-run beef farm in the Tamar Valley, Cornwall. Elinor Willcocks grew up at Trewint and, after training in productive horticulture, was keen to introduce new approaches that would support the land to thrive in the long-term.
The Tamar Valley has a rich history of market gardening, particularly fruit and flower production, which flourished in the late 19th century, with produce transported across the UK by rail. Inspired by this heritage, Elinor established a market garden on a plot at Trewint, using a traditional agroforestry approach that integrates apple cropping with flower bulbs.
When Elinor and her partner made plans to move outside Cornwall, she began looking for someone to take on the plot. Through her networks, she was aware of how challenging it can be for new growers to access land locally. She wanted to offer the opportunity to someone who shared her agroecological values – prioritising biodiversity and low-input growing methods – and so turned to Landmatch England.
Alice Baxter-Lindsay, a flower grower from Tasmania, had been searching for an opportunity through Landmatch. Hoping to settle in Cornwall, where her husband is from, she was looking to establish an enterprise that combined cut-flower production with education. When she came across the opportunity at Trewint Farm, she recognised it as the perfect chance to put down roots in the area, arriving with vans full of perennial flowers from her previous garden.
Elinor at Trewint. Photo Credit – Hanna Collins Documentary Photography
The Land-Sharing Agreement
Alice currently holds a one-year lease on the plot, with a review scheduled at the end of the term. If all goes well, this will transition into a five-year lease. For both Alice and Elinor, starting with a simple, short-term agreement has provided enough confidence to test the relationship – allowing them to understand what works and what may need adjusting.
As Alice explains,
‘it’s so difficult to rent small parcels through traditional means … (but) it doesn’t need to be a massive thing upfront, you can do it in bits and pieces.’
To support the development of her enterprise, Alice plans to fund any infrastructure improvements she introduces during her tenancy, such as a potting shed. Should her lease come to an end, Elinor has agreed to buy back any approved infrastructure, subject to depreciation.
Reflecting on the process, Elinor says:
‘When we were working out our land agreement, Alice and I both wrote out our heads of terms (with the help of our representative from the landmatch programme), which really helped to affirm that we held similar values for managing the land and also made sure that all bases were covered if something were to go wrong.’
Establishing on the Plot
Alice arrived on the land in spring and immediately got to work clearing it, as it had needed attention since Elinor relocated. She has since bedded in a range of her existing perennials, bringing roses, peonies, verbena and herbs from her garden in Scotland. At the same time, she is making the most of the milder Cornish climate, which allows her to grow later-blooming flowers such as zinnias, dahlias and chrysanthemums.
Thanks to all her efforts, Alice was already able to begin selling flowers in early summer, including some stems that Elinor had originally sown. She is optimistic about the season ahead, expecting a good harvest and feeling positive about the future of her new enterprise.
Elinor’s family have been impressed by the transformation so far. It has been remarkable for them to see how quickly the land has become productive again and to watch Alice already selling flowers from the plot.
Looking to the Future
With the land-sharing relationship progressing well, Alice plans to launch an educational offering next year. She is already exploring ways to develop the site to improve access for the local community. Keen to share her growing expertise and her enterprise, she hopes to use the land as a space to teach people how to grow from seed, and draw on her experience as a florist to run arranging workshops at Trewint.
Elinor is equally enthusiastic about continuing to share the land and hopes that Alice’s workshops will pave the way for regular educational activities and group visits on the farm.
Reflecting on her experience, Elinor advises others considering a land match:
“Try to find someone with similar values and ethos to yourself, be clear about your boundaries and what you’re prepared to offer; and be prepared to open yourself up to the wonderful opportunities a land match could bring.”
We’re coming up to 6 months since the launch of Landmatch England and have been thrilled with the response we have received so far, really highlighting the appetite for a land matching service for the farming community.
In April, we sent out a feedback form to our registered users to gather early-stage feedback on our progress. We wanted to gain information on how to adapt our service to ensure we are meeting the needs of the sector wherever we can.
The feedback we have received is overwhelmingly positive, with 90% of respondents stating that the matching process and surrounding support are helping them to work towards their goals so far, with one respondent stating:
“Our facilitator has been invaluable in helping us co-ordinate our potential landmatch by helping us put in place a clear pathway for the negotiations around both parties expectations and needs. We feel the support offered has made the process of building the relationship less stressful and there is a sense that we are managing the process properly, and the best way possible for all concerned.”
Suggestions
We asked for your suggestions for future events and training, and we heard that there is a substantial need to address knowledge gaps, such as in business planning and different types of agreements. We have dates set for webinars over the next few months to address the need to tackle these issues.
There were also some really helpful suggestions that we are currently unable to meet, such as providing more staff. We’re currently in a funded year with a small staff team working part-time on the project, so please bear with us if sometimes we are longer than you may expect to respond to enquiries. We would love to bring more people into the team, but we do expect this to be a slow growth strategy and dependent on future funding and income potential.
We also recognised a useful comment requesting land agreement templates. As fans of fair and robust land agreements that are tailored to the specific situation and people within a land match, we are unable to provide template leases as this could constitute legal advice – but we can signpost you to resources and friendly professionals who can help.
Behaviour change
It was also really interesting to see what people are doing differently as a result of using the Landmatch England service. We heard from landowners who noted that they’re interested in involving their local community in food growing on their land, working more with local organisations, or changing their search criteria for a landseeker after chatting with one of the team. Landseekers also fed back on being more active in looking for funding, or amending their ideas after reviewing resources sent on by their regional coordinator.
Keep in touch
If you’re reading this after joining us on the Landmatch journey, please feel free to continue letting us know how we are doing at any time! We love hearing from you, and all feedback is gratefully received and reviewed. Your thoughts and ideas are actively used to continue to build on the service wherever we can and evidence the need for the service to our funders and decision makers.
We recently met with the Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Angela Eagle, to make the case for Landmatch England becoming a publicly funded service.
This meeting was convened by Defra in London to better understand what support new entrants to farming need.
We were joined by the Apricot Centre and Organic Lea, who identified gaps in occupational standards for training and apprenticeships in horticulture. The Ecological Land Co-op spoke of blockers within planning policy for rural workers and new entrants, and the CSA Network gave examples of resilient business models and called for more support for small-scale farms.
The meeting convened by the Real Farming Trust, with Dame Angela Eagle
The Challenge
The UK’s homegrown food sector is facing major challenges—one being farm succession. Many farmers are approaching retirement, while new entrants struggle to access land. There is a clear and growing need for intervention to bring more people into the sector.
Rising land prices and a lack of secure tenancy options make it extremely difficult for landless farmers and new entrants to get started. At the same time, established farmers are often looking to retire, reduce workloads, or diversify.
How Landmatch England Can Help
Landmatch England bridges this gap by connecting landseekers, many of whom are new entrants, with landowners who can offer opportunities on their existing land. These matches enable new enterprises to be established or incubated, delivering financial, social, and environmental benefits for the existing farmer, too.
For landowners, the service offers a practical way to support the next generation using the resources they already have. For landseekers, it provides an accessible pathway to find opportunities—access to land, knowledge, and networks that would otherwise be very difficult to come by.
Land matching demonstrates that bringing new people onto the land encourages innovation, introduces new skills, and adds long-term value to existing farm businesses.
Why is it the role of the public sector?
Long-term food resilience: The public sector plays a vital role in ensuring the long-term viability of the food system. Unlike the private sector, which often responds to market forces, the government can invest in future needs. Supporting new entrants is not currently incentivised by the market – so Defra has a unique role to play.
Strengthening the local level: Land matching builds relationships at a local level, connecting people and resources within communities. In doing so, it strengthens local food systems and improves resilience from the ground up.
Supporting innovation: Defra look to fund on-farm innovation and think about doing things differently. Landmatching is an example of an innovative, low-cost approach that fosters new relationships and encourages nature-friendly farming.
The whole picture: For land matching to be effective, it must sit alongside wider financial and business support. This includes access to start-up grants for new entrants, as well as eligibility for schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), particularly for farms under 3 hectares.
Conclusion
Land matching is a practical, proven way to support new entrants and strengthen the resilience of the UK food system. It enables more people to grow food, supports shorter and more local supply chains, and opens the door to those who would otherwise be excluded from farming.
We are grateful to the Real Farming Trust for facilitating this meeting, and to our partners—Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Network UK, The Landworkers’ Alliance, Shared Assets, and Tamar Grow Local CIC—for helping bring Landmatch England to life and onto the national agenda.
Farmers, landowners, advisors, researchers and Landmatch England gathered in Exeter last week for a full day of learning, sharing ideas and networking at the 4th Rootstock conference organised by the Devon County Agricultural Association.
Rootstock is a one-day, forward-looking conference for farmers in the South West to discuss new approaches and how farmers can build profitable, resilient businesses in tune with nature. Sessions are based around contextualised science, bringing expert scientists and practical farmers together; all the while exploring current farming trends and latest developments.
Travelling up on Thursday morning, the widespread flooding on the landscape near Exeter was a sorry sight, and the weather was a feature of the chat on arrival between delegates. According to the Met Office, 518.7mm of rain has fallen in Devon so far this winter, which is 131 per cent of the seasonal average. It was timely to hear from Professor Pete Falloon, Science Lead of Food Security at the Met Office, in the opening session, who spoke of the risks and opportunities for farming in a changing climate. Professor Falloon also spoke of the need for farmers, government and scientists to work together to support the adoption and implementation of new solutions in farming practice.
In the same session, Martin Lines, who leads the Nature Friendly Farming Network, spoke of the importance of championing regenerative farming with a whole farm approach – getting nature on Treasury balance sheets and demonstrating the sector’s value to society and environmental recovery. Martin spoke of the financial difficulties in farming as a result of volatile costs and instability in supply chains and markets, welcoming the recently published Farm Profitability Review by Minette Batters, echoing calls to improve access to affordable finance, a review of tax rules and support for new entrants and succession.
It was also great to hear from John Cherry, one of the founders of the mighty Groundswell, who dropped by the Landmatch England stand; Annie Landless from Ampney Brook Farm in the Cotswolds and Collumpton farmer Paul Baker, who shared observations and results on soil health from experimental rotations and herbal leys.
So much learning throughout the day, but of course, we were also there to share the news of the newly launched Landmatch England project. It was wonderful to speak with landowners, many of whom welcomed the project as a means of support to open up new opportunities on their land. It was also great to make connections with professionals who are keen to support us through advice and networks. Although Landmatch England didn’t get interviewed for BBC Spotlight’s evening news, we were proud to see our banner sneak into shot!
We will certainly be back at Rootstock in 2027, and in the meantime, we’re looking forward to attending more events this year. Do keep an eye on our events page to see what’s coming up.
On 21 January 2026, we officially launched Landmatch England with an online event bringing together landseekers, landowners, and supporters from across the country. We welcomed 111 people joining live on the evening, and were delighted by the overall response and positive comments we received.
What We Covered
This session was an introduction to our service, what we provide, how it works, and which opportunities it creates for people looking to access land or host new land-based enterprises. Suzy Russell (CSA Network) from our steering group told the story of Landmatch England so far, and provided us with context on how this work has developed. We were also joined by Jo Kamal from Pathways to Land, who introduced their stream of work supporting Black and people of colour (BPOC) and those economically marginalised who are seeking land. There is still time to sign up for their support package, paying people for their time to attend training and workshops on land access and starting a farming or growing business.
Our highlight of the evening was hearing directly from our guest speakers who shared why they have served up to the service. We heard from:
Holly Smith, an experienced land worker and registered landseeker, who spoke about her search for land to graze sheep and produce fibre and other goods. Holly shared why she’s signed up to Landmatch England to support her next steps.
David Wolfe from Wakelyns Farm, who offered a landowner’s perspective, explaining how enterprise stacking already works on his farm. David has registered with Landmatch England to help attract new and complementary land-based enterprises.
If you missed the event or want to revisit the conversations, you can watch the full recording below. We hope it leaves you feeling as inspired and excited as we did — and if you’re ready to start a conversation with Landmatch England, head to this page to register with us.
Of particular note was a visit from the Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Emma Reynolds, representing a follow up visit to our trip to see Dame Angela Eagle in London in April. Emma was receptive to each organisation’s policy asks, many of them bringing up the subject of access to land. At the forefront of the topic, Landmatch England illustrated our success in facilitating land sharing across England since launching in January and highlighted the need for secure funding to maintain the service, something the devolved governments have been providing to their respective land matching services for some time now.
