Coherence and comparability

This section covers how consistent these statistics are over time and how comparable they are with those of other regions and countries.

Coherence

TIFF statistics are broadly coherent with results of farm business income (FBI) derived from the Farm Business Survey. Inconsistencies occur between these different estimates because:

• FBI estimates the profit made by the average commerical sized farm. The estimates are designed to compare performance across different types of farming. FBI estimates do not represent the whole agricultural sector. Total Income from Farming assesses the economic situation for the whole of the UK agricultural sector.
• FBI estimates are aligned with financial years while TIFF estimates are made on a calendar year basis. Changes impacting the agricultural industry from January to March will be reflected in a different reporting year in FBI estimates compared to TIFF estimates.
• FBI treats stocks as the change in the book value of stocks between the start and end of the accounting year while TIFF treats stocks as the physical change in stocks valued at average calendar year prices.
• The first estimate of TIFF is made before results from the Farm Business Survey covering the same time period are available. Second estimates of TIFF incorporate these data.

More information about the production of farm business income estimates is available in Scottish farm business income: annual estimates: Methodology - gov.scot.

Comparability

Data presented as a timeseries are considered to be consistent enough over time to make reasonable comparisons. Data sources and methodology used to produce total income from farming estimates change over time to include more accurate data where available and adapt to changes in the availability of data. Metadata is available alongside data to make sure users are aware of these changes and commentary on impact is included in this methodology report.

TIFF estimates are based on results from the June Agricultural Census, Farm Business Survey and Cereal Production and Disposal Surveys. Methodology information about these products and their comparability over time is available at

• Agricultural census: results - gov.scot
• Scottish farm business income: annual estimates: Methodology - gov.scot
• Cereal and oilseed rape harvest: Methodology - gov.scot

Comparison with other nations

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England, the Welsh Government (WG) in Wales and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland routinely publish similar results:

Aggregate agricultural accounts - GOV.UK

Aggregate agricultural output and income | GOV.WALES

NI agricultural incomes | Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

Defra produce UK level results by combining results at UK level with detailed results from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These results are then used to estimate detailed England results.

Similar agicultural economic accounts are also produced across Europe by member states of the European Commission (EC). More information about methodology and the statistics are available at:

Overview - Agriculture - Eurostat

Users interested in comparing results between countries should evaluate the relevant methodologies of sources used.