A recent poll of arable farmers conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU) from August to October found that the budgeted price for wheat, barley and oilseed rape had all been squeezed. The average budgeted price for wheat in this period nationally was £126/tonne, compared with £147/tonne during the April to July period.

For barley the budgeted price estimates had gone down from £153/tonne during the period April to July to £135/tonne during polling in August to October. Oilseed rape had moved down from £307/tonne in April to July to £286/tonne in August to October.

In the East Midlands the average budgeted price of wheat was £120.62/tonne, barley £117.32/tonne and oilseed rape £290.24/tonne in the August to October period.

Majority of arable farms see no major changes

A survey by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU) reveals that overall 72% of arable businesses said that the position of their farm was unlikely to change substantially over the next few years, compared with 70% in the previous year. Fewer arable farms were planning to expand, 7% in 2008 compared to 9% in the previous year. Farms in the East Midlands were twice as likely to expand as the national average. Just 3% of farmers nationally thought that the farm would be reduced compared with just 2% in the East Midland region.

Future of family ownership

Over three-quarters of arable farmers (77%) expected the farm to stay in family ownership/management in the long-term, with 11% of farms expected to move away from the family. However 10% of arable farmers expressed uncertainty as to the farm’s future ownership in 2008. These figures were the same for the East Midland region.

Arable businesses are still largely based on full-time family members working on the farm. In 2008 94% of arable farms nationally relied on full-time family members, with 92% in the East Midland region. Conversely 6% of all arable farms nationally had no full-time family workers.

Overall 20% of arable farms relied on just one full-time person working on the farm, with 38% of farms having two full-time workers, 23% having three full-time workers and 10% employing four full-time people. In the East Midlands 20% of arable farms had one full-time worker, with 38% of farms in the region having two workers, 23% with three workers and 10% with four people working on the farm.

Take up of new varieties

Last season 15% of farmers drilled a new winter wheat variety, with the major new varieties grown for the first time being Humber, Oakley, Alchemy and Timber. This autumn just 10% of farmers have chosen a new wheat variety to date. Farmers in the East Midlands had a higher take up of new varieties, with 21% of farmers growing a new wheat this year. In winter barley in the 2007/2008 season 8% of farmers grew a new variety for the first time, with the most popular ones being Saffron, Retriever, Cassata and Flagon. This season just 5% of growers have sowed a new winter barley.

Uptake of new varieties in oilseed rape is less common, with just 5% of growers last year growing a new variety for the first time, and just 3% this year. The top varieties grown for the first time this autumn are Excalibur, Catana and Castille. Last year 9% of farms in the East Midlands grew new rape varieties.

Buying Group membership

Membership of a buying group has remained reasonably static in the last three years with 22% of arable farmers being members of a Buying Group in 2008, compared with 22% in 2007 and 21% in 2006. There is much regional variation however, with 40% of farmers in the Eastern Region and 38% in the North East being Buying Group members. A quarter of farmers in the East Midlands were Buying Group members. Farmers in Yorkshire (10%) and in Scotland (12%) were the least likely to buy through a Buying Group.