One of the biggest challenges facing farming is encouraging the next generation. It’s an issue significant enough among those whose families already farm. For those without a foothold in the sector, it’s even greater.

New entrants in farming are not short of high-profile inspiration. Kaleb Cooper, of Clarkson’s Farm fame, has caught the nation’s imagination with the work ethic and imagination that has seen his own farming and contracting enterprise take off.

In Scotland, Ayrshire farmer Cammy Wilson has achieved a global social media following - showing sheer determination and an eye for business to support his farming ambition through his YouTube channel The Sheep Game.

As encouraging as their stories are, they highlight the scale of the financial hurdle faced by new entrants who want to carve out their own lives and careers in the industry.

Every time our team works with someone seeking to secure their first tenancy, or buy their first piece of land, I find myself coming back to the same question: Could more be done to support new entrants into farming?

Finances are the greatest practical barrier to many of those people needed to secure a stronger, more sustainable future for the sector.

The reality is that, without significant finances and security, obtaining a tenancy - let alone purchasing a farm - is impossible. That is at a time when statistics show that two-thirds of farmers in Scotland are aged 55 or over.

Some progress has been made with Scotland’s process of Relinquishment and Assignation - through which tenants without a successor can transfer their lease to new entrant or progressing farmers. But it has not eased the financial barrier.

True, new entrants are often disadvantaged in securing a tenancy simply by not having access to adequate funding, or by not having another asset to draw upon for security to raise funds against.

In the highly competitive world of new tenancies they cannot compete with progressing farmers who may still be looking to establish themselves outright away from their core family business but can access funds by leveraging existing assets.

So, the big question is, should Scottish government funds be made available to true new entrants, supporting them to secure a tenancy?

Initiatives such as the Future Farming Investment Scheme and programmes run to help potential tenants prepare their business plans are much welcomed. Organisations including The Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs also do great work.

To encourage more people into the industry, the availability of finance could be the key.

This requirement does not, however, stand alone. It is essential that anyone acquiring a tenancy through an Assignment must be able to demonstrate they have the requisite skills or experience to farm the holding, or show that they are embarking on an educational course in agriculture that would qualify them to do so within a certain timeframe.

Competition for tenancies is intense. Successful bidders are those who demonstrate financial security, along with a sound business plan which outlines exactly how they intend operating, both in terms of the finances specific to the farm itself, but any other income that they intend drawing on to support that work, including from outside jobs or interests.

Farming has so much emerging talent. But could there be even more with an additional help-up?

Lorna McKay is a Partner, Lindsays