Great Britain

Farmer2000

Bulletin No.22 October 2006

Future position of farm is more uncertain than previously

A survey by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU) reveals that since last year many more agricultural businesses in Great Britain are unsure about the position of their farm over the next few years (26% compared to 8% - see chart below). Furthermore, around half (56%) of the farmers interviewed this year said that they saw no major change to their farm over the next few years, but this is substantially less than last year when the majority (82%) believed that their farm would not change too much. However, the numbers of those planning to stop, reduce or expand the farm were similar to the results from last year.

Investment – an indicator of future optimism?

Almost all (90%) farmers in GB had made a major investment in the farm. The investments cited were wide ranging, with the most common one being a tractor (purchased by 27% of farmers). Other responses included buildings for livestock (6%), machinery implements (4%) and combines (4%). On average, the investments were made 18 months ago.

Around two-thirds of GB farmers (67%) were NOT planning to make investments in the near future, a similar finding to previously. Of the one third (33%) of farmers who were, the investments cited were again extremely wide ranging hence there was no particular common investment. The average timeframe for future investments was in seven months' time.

Non-farming income continues to support farming

Just over a fifth (21%) of GB farms were raising some income from non-farming activities. On average, those farmers estimated that such activities accounted for just over a third (34%) of their income. A wide range of non-farming activities were cited, with the most common being residential letting (18% of farms), food and leisure including Bed and Breakfast and holiday lets (12%), equine/livery (10%) and commercial letting (9%).

Land usage

Recently, we have been recording how ALL the land is used by those participating in our survey. So far, a wide variety of ‘alternative’ uses have been mentioned with the most common responses in GB being fallow (2790ha in total), industrial oil seed rape (807ha), brassica (669ha) and red clover (600ha).