ARCHIVE: Farm Business Management Practices

UK National Statistics Quality Mark

These statistics produced by Defra on Farm Business Management Practices, based on results from the Farm Business Survey 2007/08 in England, were released on 1 March 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. An earlier statistical notice was produced on 16 March 2009 providing initial results.

The key findings from the earlier publication and the most recent results are:

  • Farmers with further or higher educational qualifications, business management skills and those that carry out business management practices are more likely to have high economic performance than low performance.
  • Significant numbers of farmers, however, do not have further or higher educational qualifications and do not practice basic business management skills and techniques.
  • LFA grazing livestock farmers, compared with those on cereals and dairy farms, are less likely to have further or higher educational qualifications or business management skills, and are less likely to acknowledge a lack of skills. LFA grazing livestock enterprises are farmed more extensively are less specialised and there may be fewer pressures to improve the business.
  • Compared to LFA grazing livestock farms, cereals and dairy farms are more likely to consider improvements to the business. 
  • The business skills most associated with farm businesses in the top quartile of performance were: Risk Management; IT Skills; Business Planning; Marketing; and Management Accounting.
  • 72% of high performers had at least 4 of the key business skills compared to 40% for the low performers.
  • Of the farms which are carrying out business management practices, those that have high business performance have an average Farm Business Income per hectare of £574 per hectare, compared to £-78 for the low performers.

Latest Release

Coverage: England

Geographic Breakdown: n/a

Next release date: TBA

For more information about this release, please e-mail: andrew.woodend@defra.gsi.gov.uk or telephone:++44 0207 238 3287

Page last modified: 25 January, 2011
Page published: 18 March, 2010

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