The Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) Order 1989

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order prescribes units of production for the assessment of the productive capacity of agricultural land and sets out the amount which is to be regarded as the net annual income from each such unit for the year 12th September 1989 to 11th September 1990 inclusive. In so far as the units of production prescribed in the Order are relevant to the assessment they are to be used, in conjunction with the net annual income ascribed to them, in calculating the net annual income of the unit of land when assessing whether it is a commercial unit of agricultural land for the puposes of the succession provisions in Part IV of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, that is to say a unit of agricultural land which is capable, when farmed under competent management, of producing a net annual income not less than the aggregate of the average annual earnings of two full-time, male agricultural workers aged 20 or over, (see paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 6 to the Act). Therefore the assessment will not necessarily be based on the system of farming carried out on the holding or on historical data from the holding.

The net annual income figures in column 3 of the Schedule specify the net annual income from one unit of production. In some cases the net annual income is derived from a unit which will be on the land for the full twelve month period. In other cases the net annual income is derived from a unit which will be on the land for only part of the year, and there may be more than one production cycle in the twelve month period. The assessment of the productive capacity of the land will take account of the total production in the course of a year.

The Order supersedes the Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) Order 1988.