Scottish farm business income: annual estimates: Methodology

This section contains quality information for previous Scottish farm business income annual estimates publications. Quality information for the latest publication is available in Methodology changes and corrections. 

Basis Period Reform

Data gathered from over 100 farms in the survey were impacted by Basis Period Reform (BPR). Under BPR, the accounting year of businesses will change to align with the tax year. The transition year of BPR transition began for farm businesses during crop year 2023. The accounting year end for some farms moved forward from November to March, whilst others moved back from May to March.

Annual farm business income estimates are based on the fully reconciliated opening and closing valuations of farm businesses during an accounting year. To minimise the impact of BPR and to keep data collection over a 12-month period, an opening valuation was estimated for farms with previous accounting year ending in November. The opening valuation was estimated for a date 12 months prior to the new accounting year end at 31 March. Closing valuations were calculated on 31 March. For farms with previous accounting year ending in May, closing valuations were calculated on 31 March.

BPR reform took full effect in crop year 2024. It is expected that the majority of farms in the FBS sample will change accounting years over the next few years to align with the tax year. 

Scottish farm business income estimates: 2023-24, published 3 April 2025

This release includes final estimates for 2022-23 and initial estimates for 2023-24. Final estimates for 2023-24 were released as part of Scottish farm business income estimates: 2024-25, published 26 March 2026. Users should refer to the latest release.

Farm business income estimates for 2023-24 were impacted by Basis Period Reform (BPR) and improvements to the sample coverage of smaller farms.

These methodology changes have no impact on the comparability of 2023-24 estimates with the timeseries (data back to 2012-13). The size of the impact on estimates remains small compared with the margin of uncertainty around survey results.

Impact of sample coverage improvements on annual estimate trends

In recent years, the survey has actively recruited more smaller farms to improve the proportional representation of the sample relative to the wider farm population. Changes in which farms are included each year (sample turnover) can influence differences in average annual estimates. Because farm incomes naturally fluctuate from year to year, it is difficult to isolate the specific impact of sample turnover on reported results.

In 2023-24 there was a larger than normal turnover (higher than seen in the previous 3 years) in the samples of livestock and dairy farms. A larger turnover does not necessarily have noticable impacts on results. However, in 2023-24 the proportion of smaller grazing livestock farms in the overall sample increased slightly compared to the previous year. This contributed to some stronger decreases in average values compared to the previous year (2022-23).

Where changes are strongly attributed to changes in the sample representation, these are reported on alongside the official statistics.

For example, the official statistics publication released on 3 April 2025 notes that:

“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 Support 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 the FBS sample is available in the Farm business income methodology and Accuracy and Reliability sections.