Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture 2011 Edition

Cereals

There was a large decrease of £25,127 (60 per cent) in the FBI of Cereal farms, from £41,817 in 2008/09 to £16,690 in 2009/10. This was the result of a £20,320 (14 per cent) fall in outputs and a £8,572 (17 per cent) increase in total inputs. These were partially offset by a £3,690 (9 per cent) increase in grants and subsidies.

The decrease in total output was due primarily to a decrease in cereal output. Although the average area of cereals for farms in the survey increased by 3 per cent, cereal output fell by £15,888 (18 per cent) from £89,905 in 2008/09 to £74,017 in 2009/10. This fall in cereal output reflects the drop in cereal prices between the two years. The total livestock output of cereal farms decreased by £4,318 from £23,718 in 2008/09 to £19,400 in 2009/10, despite firmer prices for cattle and sheep in 2009/10. Part of the reason for this is a decrease in the number of cattle held on farms in the sample.

Total grants and subsidies increased by £3,690 (9 per cent) from £39,826 in 2008/09 to £43,516 in 2009/10. This was due to the increase in SFP of £3,994 being slightly offset by small reductions in other direct payments.

Over half of the increase in input costs was due to increases in fertilisers which increased by £4,277 (19 per cent) from £22,704 in 2008/09 to £26,982 in 2009/10. Most of the rest of the increase was due to increases in machinery depreciation which increased by £3,615 (17 per cent) and Land and Building costs which increased by 1,409 (9 per cent).

Income from diversified activities was relatively stable at £5,500 in 2009/10, compared to £5,426 in 2008/09. There were slightly more specialist cereal farms in the survey recording an income from diversified activity but the average income from these activities was lower than the previous year. Further details are provided later in a separate section on diversification.

Chart B4(e): Selected outputs and inputs, Cereals

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