Farm Incomes – Scotland

The Scottish Government has released information on two income measures; Total Income from Farming (TIFF) and the average Farm Business Income (FBI) for 2011/12.  The figures are still estimates and the final position will not be known until later in the year. 

The release contains full estimates of TIFF for the calendar year 2011 and also initial estimates for 2012.  TIFF increased by £58 million to £746 million between 2010 and 2011.  This represents a rise of 8% before inflation and 3% increase in real terms.  The initial estimates for 2012 show TIFF falling by £111 million to £635 a 19% fall in real terms.  This is in line with our estimate for 2012 for a 20% reduction in the UK TIFF set out in November .

The Scottish TIFF figures for 2012 show output increasing year on year for barley, finished cattle and milk products, but a reduction is forecast for wheat, potatoes, OSR, poultry and finished lambs, with the weather impacting on yields and lower prices for lambs.  Total input costs for 2012 are forecast to rise by £44 million (2%) compared to 2011 levels.  The main increases are from fertiliser and fuel.  Feed costs are actually forecast to fall but his is due to a projected fall in poultry numbers.

The second measure of income; the Farm Business Income (FBI) comes from the Farm Accounts Survey (FAS) for Scotland.  In 2011/12 502 farms were sampled.  The statistics show the average Farm Business Income in Scotland for 2010/11 was £44,829 compared to £46,255 in 2010/11 (a 3% increase), although this masks large differences between farm types – the table  shows the FBI by farm type.