At Rose Vale Rural, we professionally manage the seasonal sale and letting of grass keep, standing crop and fodder sales across the West Country, acting on behalf of both vendors and buyers.
With a detailed understanding of local markets and agricultural practices, we help provide clear advice, find suitable purchasers, neogotiate heads of terms, and prepare robust Licences or other occupational agreements. Our approach ensures every agreement is properly structured, legally sound, and commercially effective, giving clients confidence that their seasonal sales are handled efficiently, fairly, and with the highest level of professional care.
Answers to your real estate questions and concerns.
Grass keep is a short-term, seasonal sale of grass to a grazier for grazing or mowing. Any occupation is through a licence, NOT a formal agricultural tenancy. It allows landowners to grow and sell the grass crop, retain control of their land, avoid tenancy rights, and often helps with tax planning (APR/BPR), while providing graziers with extra forage.
Grass Keep in the UK is, more often than not, sold by the acre, for example £100/acre. Often the better quality grass will achieve the best value, with new seed leys often achieving over £200/ac for unrestricted mowing. Where grass is purchased to graze livestock, good fencing and a water supply are often key. Whilst graziers can erect their own electric fencing, they are typically willing to pay better premiums where fields are well fenced and water troughs are in working order.
Some crops are grown, grazed, harvested or conserved for the use of feeding to livestock, either in situ or stored, often for the winter months. For example, turnips, fodder beat, hay, silage and straw. Sales typically vary from a price per tonne, or per bale. Some farmers sell some crops on a joint venture basis, so achieving pence per kilo for liveweight gain.