UK farming falls behind rivals in food efficiency race

Britain’s rate of farming productivity has grown more slowly than some of its major international competitors, Tom Hind, the chief strategy officer of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said.

It is a trend the industry has to address, he explained, if farming is to seize new market opportunities at home and abroad, and become less dependent on direct financial support as the UK leaves the European Union.

According to AHDB’s latest Horizon report: “Failure to address the long-term trend and put agricultural productivity growth back on track will see the UK farming and food industry decline.

“At a time when the industry needs to seize the opportunity afforded by Brexit, this issue needs to be front and centre of the industry’s priorities.”

The report explains how the contribution of UK farming to the rural economy could have been £4.3bn higher by 2013 if its productivity growth had kept pace with the US since 2000.

The UK’s total factor productivity, a measure of how effective farmers and growers are at turning inputs such as labour, land, water and energy, into outputs; food, averages 0.9 percent annually, compared to 3.2 percent in the US and 3.5 percent in The Netherlands.

AHDB also found that UK farmers and growers under-invest in new skills and training which could otherwise improve their farm’s productivity. In 2013, just 48 percent of farm managers aged under 35 had had some formal training, compared to 63 percent in Germany, 77 percent in France and 84 percent in The Netherlands.

Mr Hind said that while farmers and growers have perhaps the biggest role to play in improving productivity, if the Government and the wider agricultural industry supported the same agenda, a seismic shift in long-term productivity growth could be kickstarted.

The report concludes: “Although government has a part to play, we firmly believe that the solutions rest with industry to determine.

“Together we can mobilise the wealth of our combined expertise to drive a new, coordinated knowledge exchange network here in the UK.

“We can inspire farmers and growers around the importance of productivity, making it less remote and more relevant through tangible measures of performance.”

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference earlier this week, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “There is a tremendous opportunity for productivity improvement in our farms.

“We already have some of the best performing farms in the world and there is no reason why our farmers cannot lead the way globally in achieving better levels of productivity through adoption of best practice and new technologies.”

PIG UNIT SOUGHT FOR TRIALS

Yorkshire pig farmers are being asked to consider becoming ‘Strategic Farm’ hosts as part of a national search for farms that can lead the way in trialling new, practical ideas to improve the sector.

AHDB Pork seeks four pig producers to work with their peers and those in allied industries to improve their pig unit’s performance. New ideas will focus on water quality and delivery and practical farm hygiene. The application deadline is February 14.

An AHDB search is already underway in Yorkshire to find a host for strategic potato farm. The sector-spanning initiative aims to encourage farmer to farmer learning.

Yorkshire potato farm sought to lead local innovation