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'Staffordshire council farm gave us a foothold in farming'

For more than 100 years, the county council in Staffordshire has rented out farms it owns to help give a foothold to people who want to forge a career in the has offered couples like Richard and Rachel Moss the chance to start out in dairy farming and grow their like Richard and Ella Upton have used it as a stepping stone to taking on larger private scheme began in 1908 and was then extended after World War One to provide ex-servicemen with opportunities to work the land. "The starter farms are definitely a good thing for people wanting to get into the industry," Mr Moss said."It gives those people that haven't got the opportunities of a family farm at home a chance to do it themselves.""You've got to put yourself out there," Mrs Moss added. "You've got to believe in yourself that you can do it."The couple took on their first council farm tenancy in 2019, and after two-and-a-half years moved to a larger holding near Stafford. Today they own 180 cows. Staffordshire County Council said it currently had more than 60 equipped farms and rural property covering about 6,500 are available to new starters and those developing a farming business, with the majority being used for dairy rest are used for rearing beef cattle and sheep and a small amount for growing crops. 'Stepping stone' It is an example of how the council supports a key part of the rural economy, according to deputy leader Martin Murray."As a largely rural county it is a priority for us to support agricultural enterprise and we're pleased to be able to do this through our thriving farms estate," he said. Farmers Richard and Ella Upton are now leaving their council farm for a 500-acre holding on the Chatsworth estate in said their tenancy in east Staffordshire had been a "stepping stone" when they started out in Upton's father is also a tenant farmer on a Staffordshire council farm, as was his grandfather."I'd always wanted to be a dairy farmer, having grown up working with my dad on his holding, so securing my own council farm was the obvious route," Mr Upton grew his herd from 40 to 120 cows, and said without the Staffordshire holding he did not feel he would have been successful applying for his Chatsworth tenancy. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.