The Scottish Land Commission has criticised Buccleuch Estates for the way two tenant farmers have been treated.
The Scottish Borders tenants, who have farmed at Cleuchfoot near Langholm for 20 years, are being evicted to make way for forests.
Alison and David Telfer of Cleuchfoot farm, who leased land on a five-year fixed term ‘short limited duration tenancy’, claimed they had been bullied as their tenancy came to an end in February this year.
The couple had hoped to remain on the farm until they retire, in four years time. But they now been granted a new short-term lease until November next year, when they will have to leave the premises.
Adding to that, they they will lose access to hill grazing land and the flock of 580 sheep later this month.
It comes as allegations of bullying and intimidation by Buccleuch Estates were made at a public meeting in Dumfries and Galloway earlier this year.
Buccleuch Estates, which comprises the business interests of the Duke of Buccleuch, was also accused of potentially failing to follow industry guidance on landlord-tenant negotiations.
There were other accusations that tenants had been unhappy with the way Buccleuch had dealt with the ending of Limited Partnership Agreements, a form of tenancy that is being phased out with the encouragement of the Scottish Government and farming bodies.
And now Andrew Thin, chairman of the Scottish Land Commission, has criticised the Estates for its handling of the issues.
He told BBC News: "I simply cannot understand why Buccleuch wish to remove these sheep and why they are not willing to extend the tenancy of the farm and farmhouse until the tenant is of retirement age.
"That seems a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for. We don't have any authority to force the issue but it seems an entirely reasonable request.
"I haven't seen a reasonable explanation as to why Buccleuch are not willing to do that."
Earlier this year, John Glen, chief executive of Buccleuch said: “We deeply regret that any tenant feels they have been treated unfairly or have been bullied in any way. We take our responsibilities very seriously and always try to reach amicable agreements with tenants.
“However, sometimes that does not happen. Even if there is disagreement it should not give rise to accusations of bad professional practice.
“I have contacted Bob McIntosh, the Tenant Farming Commissioner, to ask him to look into these accusations as a matter of urgency. We hope that tenants will make contact with and speak to him on a confidential basis so these matters can be addressed properly. The commissioner has said he will visit the estate and we will give him every assistance in this matter.”
