About this dashboard

This dashboard brings together statistics on agriculture to summarise farm performance and productivity in England. Analysis is primarily based on data from the Farm Business Survey. Unless otherwise stated, all data presented is based on a three year average for 2020/21 to 2022/23 and relates to England only. Unless otherwise stated, “farms” refers to farm businesses throughout.

The Farm Business Survey (FBS) is an annual survey providing information on the financial position and physical and economic performance of commercial farm businesses in England. It covers all types of farming in all regions of the country and includes owner-occupied, tenanted and mixed tenure farms. The FBS only includes farm businesses with a Standard Output of at least €25,000.

The income figures in this dashboard have been rounded to the nearest £100. As a result, some totals may not match the sum of the individual values presented due to rounding.

For more information, visit the Farm Business Survey website.

If you have any questions about this dashboard, please contact us at AUK_stats_team@defra.gov.uk.

How to use this dashboard

• Use the tabs and the drop down menus in the top green banner to navigate to the page you are interested in. These are grouped by themes. The tab you are currently viewing will be highlighted in dark green.

• Most pages contain a mixture of text showing key statistics, useful background information and charts displaying the underlying data.

• The dashboard will automatically resize depending on the size of the screen used to view it. On smaller screens, a scroll bar may appear on text boxes to show there is additional text.

• Some pages are presented as storyboards, where the page has a large central chart, with title boxes across the top and key text on the right hand side. On these pages, clicking the title boxes will change the information being displayed.

• Many pages contain several charts. You can tab between them by selecting the different chart titles at the top of the chart panel. The tab for the chart currently displayed will be highlighted in green.

• The majority of charts displayed within this dashboard are interactive. If you move your cursor over the chart, a hover-over bubble will appear giving more information and context to the charts.

• All charts have a range of options to customise the view - e.g. zoom, pan, select etc. These are accessed in the top right of each chart and only appear once you move your cursor onto the chart.

• Charts with a colour legend (e.g. stacked bar charts and line charts) have a “toggle” feature. By clicking on the item in the chart legend, you can select or deselect the data displayed in the chart. The “Compare data on hover” option allows you to view multiple hover overs simultaneously.

• All charts can be downloaded as .png images. For most charts this can be done by using the camera icon at the top right of the chart area. Charts without the camera icon can be downloaded by right clicking on the chart and selecting the “save image as” option.

• All data presented in this dashboard can be used in accordance with the Open Government Licence.

Key messages

How are the number of farm businesses distributed across economic output classification?

• In 2022, there were a total of 95,365 farms in England.

• Of these, 8,140 (8.5%) farms were classed as Very High economic output, with a Standard Output of €500,000 or more.

• 42,864 (45%) of farms were classed as Very Low economic output, with a Standard Output of less than €25,000.

How is total Standard Output distributed across economic output classification?

• In 2022, the total Standard Output in England was €17.7 billion.

• Very High farms (Standard Output >€500,000) contributed 62% (€10.9 billion) to the total Standard Output.

• Very Low farms (Standard Output <€25,000) contributed 2.0% (€0.36 billion) to the total Standard Output.

How is farmed area distributed across economic output classification?

• The total area farmed in England was 9.1 million hectares in 2022.

• Very High farms (Standard Output >€500,000) used 35% (3.2 million hectares) of the farmed land in England.

• Very Low farms (Standard Output <€25,000) used 8.4% (0.77 million hectares) of the farmed land in England.

Notes:

1. See the Glossary for a full definition of Standard Output.

2. These figures exclude businesses classified as “specialist horse” farms.

3. Farms classes as “Very Low” (Standard Output <€25,000), are excluded from the Farm Business Survey population.

Source: June Survey of Agriculture and Farm Business Survey

Why does performance vary so widely across farm businesses in England?

Differences achieved in costs and output values is one reason for differences in farm performance.

For every £100 spent by farms, those in the top 25% made on average £157 compared to £102 for farms in the bottom 25% in 2020/21 to 2022/23.

How do outputs differ across farm businesses in England?

• Across all farms, the average total output from 2020/21 to 2022/23 was £2,250 per hectare.

• For those farms in the top 25% economic performance band, the average total output was £1,940 per hectare.

• For farms in the bottom 25% economic performance band, the average total output was £1,340 per hectare.

How do costs differ across farm businesses in England?

• Across all farms, the average total costs from 2020/21 to 2022/23 were £1,750 per hectare.

• For those farms in the top 25% economic performance band, the average total costs were £1,240 per hectare.

• For farms in the bottom 25% economic performance band, the average total costs were £1,310 per hectare.

What are the common causes of differences in outputs and costs?

Differences in outputs achieved may be due to system design, impacts of pests and diseases, and the yield potential of crops and livestock grown on the farm. For example, diseases such as Bovine Viral Diarrhoea can reduce milk outputs up to 20%.

Differences in costs can be due to inefficient use of inputs, differences in farming systems and management, and the resource efficiency of crops and livestock on the farm. Defra research shows that where beef animals of the same breed were reared in different sized groups, the feed intake required to obtain the same growth rate varied considerably, by up to 23%.

Source: Farm Business Survey

Economic performance by farm type

How does economic performance vary across farm types in England between 2020/21 and 2022/23?

• Cereal farms in England had the highest average performance ratio within all performance bands, with outputs 65% higher than costs for the top 25% of cereal farms.

• The top 25% of Poultry farms had the lowest performance ratio for that band, with outputs 16% higher on average than inputs, while the bottom 25% had the same performance ratio as cereal farms, with outputs 8% lower than inputs.

• Horticulture farms in England had the lowest average performance ratio within all performance bands, with outputs 43% lower than costs for the bottom 25% of horticulture farms.

How does the difference between the highest and lowest performing farm businesses vary across farm types in England?

• Across All Farms in England, from 2020/21 to 2022/23, the average performance ratio of the top 25% of farms was 2.0 times higher than the bottom 25%.

• The largest gap in performance was in Horticulture farms in England, where the top 25% of farms had a performance ratio 2.5 times higher than the bottom 25% of farms.

• The smallest gap in performance was in Poultry farms in England, where the performance ratio of the top 25% of farms was just 1.3 times higher than the bottom 25% of farms.

Notes:

1. LFA = Less Favoured Area

2. When calculating farm economic performance, unpaid labour is included as a cost. This allows a fairer comparison between farms with employees and those that use unpaid (often family) labour. A ratio of one indicates outputs = costs.

3. See glossary for an explanation of how farms have been grouped.

Source: Farm Business Survey

Performance by economic size

How does performance in England vary with economic size between 2020/21 and 2022/23?

• Very Large farms had the best average performance ratio within all performance bands. On average, outputs were 57% higher than costs for the top 25% of very large farms in England.

• There was much greater variation in performance across farms in the bottom 25% performance band, with lower performance for smaller farms and performance increasing as farm size increased.

• Spare/Part-Time farms had the lowest average performance ratio within all performance bands. On average, outputs were 37% lower than costs for the bottom 25% of spare/part-time farms in England.

How does the difference between the highest and lowest performing farm businesses vary with economic size in England?

• Across All Farms in England, between 2020/21 and 2022/23, the average performance ratio of the top 25% of farms was 1.7 times higher than the bottom 25%.

• The largest gap in performance was in Spare/Part-Time farms in England, where the top 25% of farms had a performance ratio 2.4 times higher than the bottom 25% of farms.

• The smallest gap in performance was in Large farms in England, where the top 25% of farms had a performance ratio 1.5 times higher than the bottom 25% of farms.

Notes:

1. Farm sizes are based on the estimated Standard Labour Requirements (SLR) for the business, not its land area. See Glossary for full details and notes on groupings presented here.

2. When calculating farm economic performance, unpaid labour is included as a cost. This allows a fairer comparison between farms with employees and those that use unpaid (often family) labour. A ratio of one indicates outputs = costs.

Source: Farm Business Survey

How has economic performance of all farm businesses in England changed over time?

• The largest gap in farm performance occurred in 2022/23, where the top 25% were 2.15 times better than the bottom 25%.

• The smallest gap in farm performance occurred in 2009/10, where the top 25% were 1.71 times better than the bottom 25%.

• Over the years, there has been a consistent pattern of change in performance for the top 25% and bottom 25% of farms.

Notes:

1. “All farms” represents the average ratio of outputs to costs across all farms.

2. The breaks in the series shown at 2012/13 and 2017/18 represents changes in the Standard Outputs used. 2007 Standard Outputs were used from 2009/10 to 2012/13, 2010 Standard Outputs were used from 2012/13 to 2017/18, and 2013 Standard Outputs have been used since 2017/18.

3. When calculating farm economic performance, unpaid labour is included as a cost. This allows a fairer comparison between farms with employees and those that use unpaid (often family) labour. A ratio of one indicates outputs = costs.

Source: Farm Business Survey

How is farm business income calculated and what was the average for all farm businesses in England over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23?

Farm business income (FBI) is calculated as farm business outputs (revenue) minus farm business inputs (costs). It is the amount that a farm business has left after costs to invest, pay taxes and pay salaries. Over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23, the average FBI for all farm businesses was £82,300, with direct payments making up 33% of this, after direct payment costs have been deducted.

Output values include the total value of crops produced, livestock enterprise output, by-products, forage and cultivations, and miscellaneous output.

Inputs are resources used in the production process, such as feed, materials, labour and machinery, measured in physical or financial terms.

Average output values and costs in England, 2020/21 to 2022/23:

Output values

• Agriculture: £304,200 Main measure of the value of crop and livestock outputs.

• Diversification: £26,500 Non-agricultural work of an entrepreneurial nature, on or off farm, but utilising farm resources, such as running a farmhouse bed and breakfast.

• Agri-environment: £9,800 Payments to deliver environmental outcomes, compensating for income foregone in providing them.

• Direct payments: £29,400 Direct payments are farm subsidy payments that are paid to farm businesses based on the amount of agricultural land they maintain. See the Glossary for a full definition of direct payments.

Farm business costs

There are two types of costs to farmers. There are variable costs, changing depending on the level of production. The other costs are fixed costs, such as machinery.

• Variable costs: £148,900

• Fixed costs: £139,500

Income after costs

On average across all farm types, the agricultural part of the business made an income of £32,100 over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

• Direct payments contribute, on average, £29,400 to the revenue of the farm, but also have costs (£2,600) associated with them, such as the application process and cross compliance. This means that the average net income from direct payments was around £26,800.

• Agri-environment schemes contribute, on average, £9,800 to the revenue of the farm, but also have costs (£2,000) associated with them, such as the application process and cross compliance. This means that the average net income from agri-environment schemes was around £7,900.

Source: Farm Business Survey

Why does income from agriculture vary from year to year?

Income from agriculture can be volatile, as farm businesses are price takers and the determinants of the prices they receive can be out of their control:

• Farmers plant crops and raise animals, but by the time their produce is available for market the actual price they receive may have fallen.
• Many agricultural products are perishable and cannot be stored on farm, so must be moved into the supply chain quickly, meaning farmers cannot wait for better prices.
• Weather patterns can also impact both domestic and global supply. These factors mean that in some years farmers make profits and in others losses.

Income from direct payments, agri-environment schemes and diversification tends to be more stable.

Average farm business income was £96,100 in 2022/23 in real terms, a 4.6% increase compared to 2021/22. However, there was considerable variation between farm types.

Notes:

1. Prior to 2009/10, the sample was based on Standard Gross Margins (SGM).
2. Standard Outputs were introduced in the 2009/10 survey year. From 2009/10, the data are based on the latest Standard Outputs available for each year.
3. 2007 Standard Outputs were used from 2009/10 to 2012/13.
4. 2010 Standard Outputs were used from 2012/13 to 2017/18.
5. Since 2017/18, 2013 Standard Outputs have been used.
6. Direct payments began to be phased out in 2021.

Source: Farm Business Survey

How does farm business income vary across the different farm types in England?

Farm business income varies across the different farm types. Over the period of 2020/21 to 2022/23:

• Dairy farms had the highest average farm business income and lowland grazing livestock farms had the lowest.
• Lowland grazing livestock, less favoured area (LFA) grazing livestock, and pig farms made a loss from the agriculture side of the business, as their costs of production outweighed the value of their output.
• For dairy farms, around three quarters (73%) of their farm business income came from the agricultural side of the business.
• For LFA grazing livestock farms, around two thirds (68%) of their farm business income came from direct payments.

Notes:

1. Proportions in “Income ranges by farm type” chart may not add to 100% due to rounding.
2. The symbol [c] in the “Income ranges by farm type” chart indicates that results have been suppressed due to a small sample size.

Source: Farm Business Survey

How does farm business income vary across the regions of England?

Over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23:

• Farms in the North East had the highest average farm business income (£181,200), and farms in the South West the lowest (£55,100).
• North East farms had the highest agricultural income (£109,700), and South East farms the lowest (£15,400).
• North East farms received the most direct payments (£44,400), and South West farms the least (£18,200).
• West Midlands farms had the highest proportion of income from direct payments (36%), and North East farms the lowest proportion (25%).

Source: Farm Business Survey

What is the average net worth of farm businesses by tenancy type in England?

54% of farm holdings in England are owner occupied and the average net worth of this group was around £2.52 million in 2022/23. The average for this group has also increased by 37%, or £680,000, since 2018/19.

A further 19% of farm holdings are mixed tenure but mainly owner occupied and the net worth of these farms was £3.23 million in 2022/23, up 24% since 2018/19.

Tenanted farm businesses had fewer assets (e.g. machinery and livestock). Their average net worth was £445,000 in 2022/23, up 40% since 2018/19.

Note:

1. Average net worth is determined using the closing valuation of 2022/23 and uses data from the Farm Business Survey.
2. The percentages for tenancy type of farm holdings is for 2023 and use data from the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture. For more information, please see links to FBS and June Survey data below.
   
3. The chart on this page uses error bars. See the Glossary for a full definition of error bars.
4. Proportions in “Average total area” chart may not add to 100% due to rounding. A very small amount of tenancies are not declared.

Source: Farm Business Survey, June survey of Agriculture and Horticulture

How much income do farmers in England generate from providing non-agricultural products using their farm resources?

Over the period 2020/21 to 2022/23:

• 72% of farm businesses used farm resources to deliver non-agricultural activities, generating around £811 million in income (£21,500 average per farm).

• For those farms with a diversified activity, on average 22% of their farm business income was from their diversified enterprises.

• For 15% of farm businesses that have diversified activities, the income accounted for 50% or more of their farm business income. However, 4% of farms with a positive farm business income made a loss with their diversified enterprises.

• Letting out buildings for non-agricultural use had the highest average income and was the most common diversified activity, on average generating around £17,700 for those carrying out this activity.

• Processing and retailing of farm produce had the second highest average income among the diversified activities but only 13% of farms carried out this activity.

• The second most common type of diversified enterprise was solar energy, with 23% of farms carrying out this activity, accounting for an average £4,200 of additional income for these farms.

Note:

1. The chart on this page uses error bars. For an explanation of what these are, please refer to the glossary.

Source: Farm Business Survey

Income from diversified activities

What is productivity and how has UK agricultural productivity changed over time?

In 2023 compared to 1973:

• Total factor productivity (TFP) increased by 60%

• Total outputs have increased by 32%

• Total inputs have decreased by 17%

What is TFP?

TFP is a measure of how well inputs are converted into outputs, giving an indication of the efficiency and competitiveness of the agricultural industry.

Productivity improves if the same use of inputs produces a larger volume of output, or if the same volume of output is achieved from a smaller volume of inputs.

TFP is an index, which measures a relative change compared to a reference point or base year, which is given a value of 100. For TFP, the base year is set as 1973, which is the earliest year in the data set.

How has TFP changed over time?

• Despite some annual variability, the long-term trend is one of slow but overall improvement in TFP.

• Before the mid 1980s, growth in TFP was driven by increases in the volume of output (25% increase). Total input use increased by only 1%.

• Between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s there was little change in either the volume of inputs or outputs.

• From the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, TFP growth was driven by reductions in input use rather than increases in outputs.

• From the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s, TFP grew more slowly as increased outputs were offset by a slow increase in inputs.

• In the 2020s, TFP has grown owing to reductions in the use of inputs while outputs have remained fairly stable.

• TFP is estimated to have decreased by 5.1% between 2022 and 2023. This was driven by a decrease in the volume of outputs and a slight increase in the volume of inputs.

Source: Total factor productivity of the agricultural industry

Total Factor Productivity