Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture 2011 Edition

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All Types

Overall, FBI decreased by £4,905 from £39,271 in 2008/09 to £34,366 in 2009/10. This was caused by a reduction in output of £2,805 (2 per cent) and an increase in input costs of £8,125 (6 per cent) outweighing the increases in subsidies and payments of £5,417 (12 per cent) and income from diversified activities of £608 (20 per cent).

The increase in outputs was due to increases in livestock output. Sheep output increased by £4,184 (32 per cent) from £12,920 in 2008/09 to £17,104 in 2009/10, while cattle output increased by £2,158 (5 per cent) from £39,363 in 2008/09 to £41,521 in 2009/10. These increases reflect the firmer prices for store and finished cattle and sheep in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09.

Overall, cereal output decreased by £6,224 (20 per cent) in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09. This fall reflects the weaker cereal prices observed in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09, as the average area (hectares) of cereals for farms in the survey remained largely unchanged. There was an average decrease of £783 (9 per cent) in the output of potatoes while the value of other crops, such as oilseed rape and fodder crops, increase by £1,344 (17 per cent). The result was an overall decrease in total crop output of £5,662 (12 per cent).

On average, total grants and subsidies increased by £5,417 per farm (12 per cent). This increase was driven primarily by a rise in Single Farm Payment ( SFP) of £4,974, which was mainly due to the favourable exchange rate in September 2009 compared to September 2008.

The large rise in inputs was caused mainly by increases in the average cost of fertiliser, machinery depreciation and labour. Fertiliser increased by £3,119 (22 per cent) from £13,909 in 2008/09 to £17,028 in 2009/10. This reflects the large rise in fertiliser prices over this time period. Machinery depreciation increased by £2,681 (16 per cent), reflecting the increase in the value of these assets. The cost of labour increased by £1,106 (11 per cent), while the cost of feed and fuel remained stable.

Income from diversified activity increased from £3,069 in 2008/09 to £3,676 in 2009/10. This increase is due to both an increase in the number of farms in the survey recording diversified activity and an increase in the average income of farms with diversified activity. Further information is provided later in a separate section on diversification.

Chart B4(a): Selected outputs and inputs, all farm types

Chart B4(a): Selected outputs and inputs, all farm types

Table B4(a): Average cropping and stocking, output, inputs, and Farm Business Income by type of farm

Type of farm: All Farm Types

Small

Medium

Large

All Sizes

Number of farms in sample

178

167

89

99

219

218

486

484

2008-09

2009-10

2008-09

2009-10

2008-09

2009-10

2008-09

2009-10

Average size of business ( SLR)

1.3

1.3

2.5

2.5

5.1

5.1

2.8

2.8

Average size of farm (hectares)

116

106

205

223

507

575

261

283

Area of cereals (hectares)

27

25

39

41

51

53

37

37

Area of potatoes (hectares)

0.9

1.1

2.4

2.4

5.8

5.9

2.8

2.9

Area of other crops (hectares)

2.4

2.6

4.9

4.5

5.5

7.3

3.8

4.5

Number of ewes

89

92

185

171

401

424

209

217

Number of suckler cows

24

22

43

42

65

64

41

390

Number of dairy cows

2

12

9

10

35

33

14

134

Number of other cattle

53

51

100

100

171

169

100

99

Average output £ per farm

Crops: Cereals

22,303

15,608

31,203

29,976

43,617

39,987

30,845

24,621

Potatoes

1,266

1,351

1,650

2,403

23,945

21,017

8,919

8,138

Other crops

5,402

5,665

9,014

7,436

11,068

15,366

7,869

9,213

Total crop output

28,971

22,624

41,867

36,815

78,629

73,371

47,633

41,972

Livestock: Cattle

20,724

22,358

39,925

40,725

67,336

70,571

39,363

41,521

Sheep

6,533

8,696

10,697

12,598

23,646

31,825

12,920

17,104

Pigs

0

0

0

0

-1

0

0

0

Poultry

75

61

151

110

13

221

66

123

Milk

1,872

1,596

14,611

14,299

65,042

56,036

25,034

21,949

Other livestock

28

-17

-3

-13

40

115

27

28

Total livestock output

29,232

32,694

65,381

67,719

156,076

158,768

77,410

80,725

Miscellaneous output

10,298

8,895

9,130

12,942

10,950

9,878

10,332

9,873

Total Output

68,501

64,212

116,378

117,476

245,656

242,016

135,375

132,569

Subsidy and Payments

24,804

27,707

42,077

46,844

73,341

82,477

43,783

49,200

(of which LFASS)

(2,269)

(2,374)

(4,279)

(4,922)

(8,321)

(9,351)

(4,613)

(5,130)

(of which SFP)

(20,191)

(23,078)

(34,408)

(38,715)

(59,585)

(67,712)

(35,626)

(40,600)

Average inputs - £ per farm

Feed

9,224

9,285

21,238

21,533

51,749

51,466

25,359

25,440

(of which home produced)

(2258)

(1977)

(2,676)

(3,113)

(5,854)

(4,952)

(3,528)

(3,160)

Other livestock expenses

4,234

4,757

8,885

8,861

18,498

19,905

9,744

10,511

Seeds

2,363

1,993

3,089

3,694

7,723

8,563

4,272

4,476

(of which home grown)

(286)

(177)

(539)

(419)

(2557

(2478)

(1086)

(990)

Fertilisers

7,706

9,765

13,324

16,938

23,581

27,937

13,909

17,028

Other crop expenses

4,234

4,036

6,195

6,830

14,229

13,264

7,890

7,588

Labour

2,681

1,945

5,457

7,05

22,122

25,634

9,628

10,735

Machinery costs and fuel

14,373

13,544

21,547

22,395

39,836

40,137

24,032

23,909

Machinery depreciation

10,398

11,479

15,626

19,699

25,724

30,029

16,355

19,036

Land and building costs

9,806

10,218

13,505

14,744

28,207

31,927

16,551

18,248

Miscellaneous

10,414

9,316

13,746

13,597

23,184

21,522

15,216

14,108

Total average inputs

75,433

76,337

122,612

135,347

254,852

270,384

142,954

151,080

Diversification Margin

3,189

3,587

1,941

2,629

3,419

4,307

3,069

3,676

of which: Diversification Output

6,675

8,736

7,955

7,222

5,347

8,494

6,433

8,413

Diversification Input

3,487

5,149

6,015

4,594

1,928

4,187

3,364

4,737

FARM BUSINESS INCOME

21,060

19,169

37,783

31,603

67,564

58,416

39,271

34,366

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