Scottish farm business income: annual estimates 2023-2024
Farm business level estimates of average incomes for 2023-2024. An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland.
First published: 3 April 2025.
Livestock farm incomes fall
Average income for all livestock farm types fell in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. The fall in income is driven by large decreases in outputs, despite lower input costs.
The income of the average lowland cattle and sheep farm fell by 87% (£18,000). This is the largest fall in income across the livestock farm types. Agricultural output fell by 16% (£30,100), largely driven by a 14% (£14,200) decrease in cattle and a 57% (£13,400) decrease in milk and milk products outputs. Crop output also fell by 31% (£10,100).
The average Less Favoured Areas (LFA) livestock farm is the weighted average of LFA cattle, LFA sheep, and LFA cattle and sheep farms.
Average LFA livestock farm income fell by 32% (£8,100), driven by a 6% (£7,700) decrease in agricultural output.
Decreases in LFA sheep income were driven largely by falls in sheep and wool output by 19% (£8,800).
For LFA cattle farms, the fall in average income was mostly driven by decreases in crop output, specifically by-products and forage (81%, £5,300) and barley (24%, £3000). Crop output on LFA cattle farms was exceptionally high in 2022-23 due to high cereal prices.
For LFA cattle and sheep farms, the fall in income was mostly driven by a decrease in payment schemes output of 13% (£9,300). In 2023-24 the fixed rate of the Basic Payment Scheme did not increase with inflation. This resulted in a real terms decrease in support payments for many farms.
Changes to farms included in the sample has also contributed to the observed fall in payment scheme outputs. On average, for LFA cattle and sheep and LFA sheep farm types, farms entering the survey were receiving lower payments from the Basic Payment Scheme than those exiting. More information about changes to the sample is available in the Methodology.
Figure 6: Average farm business income for Less Favoured Area livestock (LFA), lowland cattle and sheep, and all farms, 2012-13 to 2023-24. 2023-24 prices.
Table 6: Average farm business income for livestock farms, 2022-23 and 2023-24. 2023-24 prices
|
Type of Farms |
2022-23 FBI (£) |
2023-24 FBI (£) |
Percentage change |
|
LFA sheep |
11,800 |
3,800 |
-68% |
|
LFA cattle |
31,600 |
23,400 |
-26% |
|
LFA cattle and sheep |
29,600 |
20,500 |
-31% |
|
Lowland cattle and sheep |
20,700 |
2,600 |
-87% |
|
Average LFA |
25,500 |
17,400 |
-32% |
Table 7: Farm business income (FBI) and contributions to FBI, average LFA, 2022-23 and 2023-24. 2023-24 prices.
|
Measure |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
Percentage change |
|
1 Total output (£) = a + b |
137,500 |
129,200 |
-6% |
|
a Agricultural output (£) |
130,700 |
123,000 |
-6% |
|
b Contracting output (£) |
6,800 |
6,100 |
-10% |
|
2 Support payments income (£) = c - d |
54,100 |
50,800 |
-6% |
|
c Payment schemes (£) |
54,300 |
50,900 |
-6% |
|
d Payment scheme costs (£) |
200 |
100 |
-27% |
|
3 Total input (£) = e + f |
168,300 |
164,900 |
-2% |
|
e Agricultural input (£) |
164,200 |
161,400 |
-2% |
|
f Contracting input (£) |
4,100 |
3,600 |
-13% |
|
4 Diversification income (£) = g - h |
2,200 |
2,300 |
5% |
|
g Diversification output (£) |
6,400 |
5,700 |
-12% |
|
h Diversification input (£) |
4,200 |
3,300 |
-21% |
|
5 FBI (£) = 1 + 2 + 4 - 3 |
25,500 |
17,400 |
-32% |
|
6 Agricultural income = a - e |
-33,500 |
-38,300 |
14% |
|
7 Contracting income = b - f |
2,700 |
2,600 |
-4% |