Industry income total drops 3 per cent to £791m
Total Income from Farming (TIFF) fell slightly in 2019, according to the latest set of farming statistics drawn up for the Scottish Government.
The National Statistics publication released yesterday revealed that total income was estimated at £791 million in 2019 - down three per cent on the 2018 figure.
The publication showed that while there was an on-going trend for profitability of the sector to rise over the long term, there was no consistency in this and there had been notable periods of decline in 2009 and 2015.
However against a background of calls for greater productivity, the figures showed that since 2016 the value of farming output had consistently risen - but this had been offset by associated rising input costs. Support payments made to farms, part of the EU’S Common Agricultural Policy, decreased, in real terms, by two per cent in 2019 – however they still accounted for 67 per cent of profit from all farming.
The publication “Total Income from Farming 2017 -19” showed that without support payments, the agricultural sector as a whole had been profitable since 2010 - however it noted that the trend in profitability without support had changed very little over the previous ten years and that this varied widely between both sectors and years and while total income including support stood at £791 million, this figure fell to £263 million when it was removed.
The estimated Gross Value Added (GVA) from agriculture was put at £1.3 billion in 2019. This figure was before support payments, and costs such as labour, rent, taxes and interest were taken into account – a figure which saw agriculture account for around one per cent of Scotland’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Total input costs to farming for 2019 rose marginally from the previous year. The figure of £3.08 billion was slightly up compared to the revised 2018 total input costs of £3.04 bn.
The main causes of the increase were fertiliser and lime costs which had increased by £27 million, with seed costs rising by £9m.
However the largest rise in costs were associated with labour and the costs of borrowing, while feedstuffs continued to be the most variable costs – being particularly exposed to factors such as extreme weather events or global market disruptions.
On the other hand, fuel and machinery costs had decreased by £6m over the year.
With total output put at £3.39bn, 2019 saw the value of wheat and potatoes rising by around a quarter while cattle and sheep output fell by £39m and £23m respectively, due mainly to poor prices.
On a per hectare basis total income from farming in Scotland during 2018 stood at £129/ha, well behind the English average of £362, the Northern Irish figure of £368 and lagging even behind Wales where £162 was recorded.
Commenting on the figures Scotland’s rural economy secretary, Fergus Ewing said: “We will continue to do all we can to support the farming sector through these challenging times.”