Grow, get together or get out

By James Garner

GROW, get together or get out.

That is the advice from accountant Deloitte & Touche, whose 12th annual farm income survey predicts that family farms might earn twice as much next year, to a total of 5000 a unit.

The accountant remains cautiously optimistic that this could signal the end of agricultures most serious recession since the great depression.

But further rationalisation is on the cards and it is not just small farms that are threatened; big units are feeling the pressure, too.

Next years forecast predicts a better time for combinable crops growers, but there would be no gain for root crop growers and another loss for combined dairy and arable units.

Head of agriculture Mark Hill believes arable farms have already taken steps to meet the challenge, having restructured and tightened belts to lower costs of production.

Although some farmers need to leave the industry to give others a chance to grow, getting together remained the favoured option, although the hardest to achieve, admitted Mr Hill.

He warned that farmers had to capture added value by moving further up the food chain or join farmer-owned businesses to ensure sufficient investment into rural areas.