The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’s (DEFRA) latest figures show a profitability boost for the 2024 fiscal year.
However, these numbers mask the significant volatility the industry has experienced in recent years, according to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
DEFRA has reported an increase of £1.6bn from 2023, resulting in an overall total income of £7.7bn for the UK.
This is in contrast to 2023 figures, which found large decreases in crop outputs and delayed purchases of fertiliser had driven a 24% drop in farming profitability in England.
The boost in profits for 2024 appears to be largely driven by beef and sheep outputs, which have increased by 9% and 13% respectively.
Cereals remained on a downward trend, with outputs falling by 22% in 2024 compared to 2023, reflecting the weather challenges faced when planting the 2024 crop along with a fall in global prices.
Dairy and eggs
According to the DEFRA figures, output from dairy farms increased in 2024 by 6% on 2023, which was more challenging for farm profitability.
Egg production has also recovered significantly, with a 35% rise in revenue as demand remains strong.
The total cost of inputs declined in 2024 by 5% compared to 2023, mainly driven by reductions in expenditure on fertiliser (-26%) and animal feed (-7%).
DEFRA on crop output
The DEFRA figures indicate that the largest contribution to total crop output was wheat, with a value of £2.1 billion. Wheat also saw the largest value decrease of all crop commodities, falling by £796 million (-26.9%).
The 2024 wheat crop suffered from wet planting conditions in winter and spring. Prices continued to decrease from spikes seen in 2022 and 2023 following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with this year’s milling wheat prices showing a 9.3% decrease from 2023.
The second largest decrease in value was for barley despite an increase in production, with reductions in price behind this overall fall.
‘Volatile environment’
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the last few years had demonstrated the “significant volatility” seen in recent years, with the new figures hiding this.
“These figures once again show just how exposed farmers across the four countries of the UK are to these pressures”.
“Arable farmers have been hit particularly hard due to falling global prices and extreme weather.
“Set against historically low incomes, these modest gains are a step forward, but they are fragile. Without consistent policy support and market stability they won’t last.”
