Scottish Farm Incomes

The Scottish Government has released figures on average profits by business type (Farm Business Income) for the 2013 crop year (2013-14).  These can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/9632.

The figures show an average fall in FBI for ‘all farm types’ of 2%, to £30,534 in 2012/13 however the fortunes varied significantly based on farm type, details for the main farm types can be seen in the table below.

The results represent the lowest average FBI in the last five years.  However, most livestock farms saw increased income with the exception of LFA Specialist Beef farms which saw an 8% fall.  Falling subsidies and outputs have not outweighed the fall in input costs.  With poorer crop prices and weather conditions less-than-ideal at planting, General Cropping and Cereal farms saw incomes fall. Income from diversified activities increased by around 5% in 2013/14.  Scotland is also following the trend in seeing a widening gap between the best and worst performing; some farms are making considerable losses yet some are growing in profitability, a story echoed in other parts of the UK.