Farm Practices Survey 2009

For those in need of some light reading, here are some statistics for you!

The 2009 Farm Practices Survey of uplands and other Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) in England was released by Defra on 30 June 2009. This release shows the attitudes and intentions of upland farmers. The key results are:

• 60% of upland farmers classify their farms as full time commercial businesses

• Almost two thirds of farms (64%) were long established family farms and 25% were first generation family farms.

• Diversification: 25% of upland farms have some form of on-farm and 48% have some form of off farm diversification or other income.

• Approximately half of upland farmers are debt free.
  

• 71% of upland farmers currently have land within environmental schemes.
  

• A quarter of upland farmers not currently in ELS would like to join the scheme. 30% of farmers not currently in HLS would like to join the scheme. 50% of farmers with land in Severely Disadvantaged Areas (SDA) expressed a wish to join the new Uplands Entry Level Scheme, covering some 63% of land.

• 27% of upland farms graze moorland.

The full report can be found here on the Defra website