Grazing agreement

This is a standard grazing agreement for non-business use.  It is a short term licence outside the terms of the Landlord and Tenant Act and the Agricultural Tenancies Act.

It can be used to graze any animal or stock – horses, poultry, sheep, pigs, cattle, yaks or so on.

A grazing agreement is a contract to take what grows on the land. It gives no rights to the licensee and can be terminated easily.  It is suitable only for a period of less than 12 months.

You should go in “with your eyes open” as to the damage to the surface of the land which can be inflicted by over use and by wet weather.  Since it is easier to obtain money from a licensee than to compel performance of covenants to spray or mend gates, we recommend that as many as possible of the maintenance tasks should be undertaken by the Licensor and covered in the global figure for the licence fee.

Who will use this document?

• Any potential landlord (owner of land)

• Or tenant (someone with animals to graze)

• Who wants use or rent out land

• Upon which to graze animals

Lease or license?

Any licence is outside of the statutory landlord and tenant framework. But the agreement has to reflect the name - you cannot just call an agreement a “licence” for it to be one.  The effect of a licence is that

• The tenant has no security

• The landlord has to give no notice

There are some important provisons and considerations when using a document such as this; we advise you to read our free information page on 'Lease or Licence?'.