The UK farm industry is lagging behind other countries and must work to improve efficiency according to a report by Andersons, the farm business consultants.
Titled "The Best Great British Farmers, What Gives Them The Edge?" explores how UK agriculture compares with other parts of the world - what we do well, what holds us back and where there are opportunities for improvement.
According to the report the UK is hampered by a loss of technology, but must work harder to implement tools to improve competitiveness. It concludes that we are no longer competitive world leaders in agricultural performance, despite hitting the mark globally in some areas and many individual examples of excellence.
The report's author, Graham Redman, partner and research economist at Andersons, said in the report: "The efficiency of UK farming has only progressed by an average of 1.4% per year since the 1960s. This is considerably lower than other comparable countries."
The report also explores the gap between the most efficient and less efficient farmers within the UK and highlights the opportunities in cost saving for UK farmers.
It suggests the main reason the best farmers make more money than the worst is because they spend less per unit of output. Higher output accounts for only about 10 per cent to 30 per cent higher profits, while lower costs contributed 65 per cent to 90 per cent."
A number of key recommendations include the need for increased investment in research.
Responding, Meurig Raymond, president of the NFU for England and Wales said: "The report correctly raises concern over UK farmers' competitiveness and rightly concludes that more investment in British agriculture by way of applied research and a greater emphasis on the sharing of knowledge within our industry is a key priority."
Market round-up
Messrs Craig Wilson Ltd sold 122 store heifers at Ayr on Thursday to a top of £1380 per head and 238.1p per kg to average £987.66 and 220.5p, while 182 store, beef-bred bullocks also peaked at £1380 but with a top price per kg of 252.2p and an overall average of £1041.33 and 228.5p. Forty-one store, B&W bullocks sold to £1140 and 205.4p to average £886.59 and 173.5p.
The Cumberland and Dumfriesshire Farmers Mart sold 4256 prime hoggs in Longtown on Thursday to a top of £115 per head and 268p per kg to average 192p (+10.7p on the week).
There was also a larger show of 3487 cast sheep forward when heavy ewes sold to £182 for a Suffolk and averaged £108.67 (-£1.50), while light ewes peaked at £103 for Blackfaces and levelled at (-90p). Rams sold to £172 for a Leicester and averaged £101.21 (-£11.14). ENDS
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article