Arable farmers profit but it’s hard times for many

The year covered runs to mid-February and there are figures still to be settled. There is confusion built in because the difference between costs and income means different things on different farms. On some, it is overall profit or loss. On others, it is effectively the wages left for farmer and family – anyone not paid a formal salary.

However, the statistics do give a picture in broad brushstrokes.

They show cropping incomes up dramatically because of the soaring prices of wheat and barley, driven by speculators and demand from biofuels makers. Good prices for potatoes and oilseeds, for those who sold cannily, contributed to good results from “general cropping”, a category which includes some cereals.

But the other side of valuable crops is expensive feed and mixed farms and all kinds of livestock producers have had a much worse year than ’09-’10 – especially pig specialists, because they cannot use grass and grass products instead of bought feed.

Average income for a pig farm has dropped from £71,500 over ’09-’10 – first good year in the industry for some time – to a projected £24,000 over the 12 months now coming to an end.

Surprisingly, poultry farms have lost a lot less – six per cent in terms of plain figures and ten per cent allowing for inflation. As with pigs, the cost of poultry meat is almost all feed – but the business has different contractual conditions, which mean chicken does not go up and down as much as pork, according to NFU poultry board chairman Charles Bourns. Also, he agreed, producers have felt some benefit from the celebrity chef effect – customers paying a little more rather than always buying the cheapest.

The figures for dairy farms reflect their high-profile problems. More surprising, to those outside the industry, will be the plummeting profits from red meat production – especially as lamb has had a good year. The problems of beef are summed up in the figures for “grazing animals”, which include intensively-fed beef.

The NFU said the summary was an average downturn of one third.

NFU President Peter Kendall said: “For England’s farmers to play their part in meeting our future food production challenges, they require sustained investment in productive capacity.

“For many sectors, the indications are that current returns barely cover the costs of production, let alone provide the cash for re-investing.”

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