Milk brings in more income than wheat on England’s farms
Milk was the most valuable agricultural commodity produced in England in 2013, worth £2.728bn at the farmgate, followed by wheat at £1.941bn.
A new analysis of total income from farming (Tiff) for England and its regions highlights the importance of poultrymeat which in some areas was the biggest farmgate earner. Overall, the value of poultrymeat was £1.893bn, putting it third on a national basis in terms of farmgate income, while beef cattle sales followed at £1.327bn.
Fresh vegetables brought in £1.136bn in a year when the overall Tiff for England is estimated by Defra to have risen by 12% to £4.12bn.
Tiff is a measure of agricultural income including subsidies and represents business profits and the earnings from the business of owners and other unpaid, usually family, workers. Total Income from Farming is designed to show the performance of the whole of the agricultural industry so is different from farmgate income.
A rise in crop incomes across England in 2013 was led by potatoes and barley – the year started with low potato stocks following a poor 2012 harvest while barley output rose due to much higher spring plantings following the wet autumn of 2012.
See also: Farm incomes fell in 2012-13 Defra survey shows
In contrast, the value of wheat and oilseed rape fell in 2013 with a decrease in the area of both crops. The overall value of livestock rose for the seventh consecutive year, mainly driven by higher prices except for cattle whose value remained stable with higher prices offset by a fall in production.
In 2013 agriculture employed 1.08% of the total workforce in England.
Over the past five years there have been considerable variations between incomes in the regions, with Tiff rising by between 9% in the North West and 36% in the East of England in that period.
There were some key changes around the English regions:
North East – 45% permanent grass, 19% rough grazing, 20% cereals
- Tiff estimated up 13% on 2012 to £198m
- £90m of finished cattle sales
- £73m of wheat sales
- £60m of finished sheep sales
- £51m of barley sales
- £45m of milk sales
North West – 61% permanent grass and 14% rough grazing
- Tiff estimated up 37% to £258m – increase driven largely by rise value of milk and meat production, especially poultry
- £642m in milk sales
- £193m of finished cattle sales
- £142m from poultry production
- £97m of finished sheep sales
- £90m of plants and flowers
Yorkshire and Humber – 31% permanent grass, 11% rough grazing, 23% wheat, 11% other cereals
- Tiff estimated up 12% to £677m, increasing mainly through higher pig prices and increased barley sales
- £311m of finished pig sales
- £257m of wheat sales
- £230m in milk sales
- £230m of poultrymeat sales
- £147m of finished cattle sales
East Midlands – 31% wheat, 13 oilseed rape, 24% permanent grass
- Tiff estimated up 2% to £585m.
- £404m of wheat sales
- £294m of poultrymeat sales
- £273m of vegetable sales
- £203m of milk sales
- £176m of oilseed rape sales
West Midlands – 44% permanent grass, 19% wheat
- Tiff estimated up 15% to £420m.
- £385m of milk sales
- £212m of poultrymeat sales
- £176m of finished beef sales
- £164m of wheat sales
- £126m from fruit production
East of England – 36% wheat, 10% other cereals, 13% permanent grass, 10% oilseed rape
- Tiff estimated up 8% to £980m.
- £656m of poultrymeat sales
- £561m of wheat sales
- £324m of finished pig sales
- £321m from fresh vegetables
- £227m of oilseed rape sales
South East – 35% permanent grass, 21% wheat
- Tiff estimated up 6% to £374m
- £270m of wheat sales
- £259m from plant and flower sales
- £210m of fruit sales
- £188m of milk sales
- £137m of oilseed rape sales
South West – 52% permanent grass, 10% wheat, 7% other cereals
- Tiff estimated up 23% to £628m, largely driven by the increase in the value of milk
- £975m of milk sales
- £405m of cattle sales
- £200m of poultrymeat sales
- £177m of wheat sales
- £130m of barley sales
- £130m from plant and flower sales