British growers can be competitive
1 November 2001
British growers can be competitive
By James Garner
BRITISH arable farmers can be the most competitive in the world despite the crisis in the countryside, claims a leading accountancy firm.
Mark Hill, head of Deloitte and Touche agriculture, said challenges lay ahead but British farmers were in the premier league.
UK agriculture has advantages, such as a ready supply of water and easy access to a market, he said.
Its disadvantage is high land costs, but the key thing is to exploit the UKs yield potential.
If farmers can push their wheat yields to 15t/ha and reduce costs by another 10% to just 60/t, then we will easily be in the top tier.
Mr Hill said it was cheaper to market grain in the UK than in the US.
In Kansas it cost the equivalent of about 20/t to move grain to a deep water port. But it cost about 7/t in the UK, he claimed.
FREE ARABLE UPDATE
CLICK HERE to receive FWis FREE new weekly email newsletter, providing an instant link to all the major additions and updates relevant to your arable business.
- Growers pay price for foot-and-mouth, FWi, 1 Novembr 2001
- Government says no to arable aid, FWi, 31 October 2001
- Farm aid announcement due shortly, FWi, 31 October 2001
- Gill to Blair: farm aid clock ticking, FWi, 24 October 2001
- FWi Arable – our arable news page
- Farmer to Farmer – find out the latest from the FWi farm diarists
- Surviving the storms – details of the 2001 Crops Conferences