Scottish farmers are being asked to provide input in a new round of data gathering that aims to inform the direction of future agricultural policy in Scotland.
The annual Scottish Farm Business Survey (SFBS) is seeking to gather key economic and environmental data to provide in-depth focus and analysis.
It has been running since the 1930s and is a detailed economic and environmental study of 400 farm businesses in Scotland.
As part of it, individual businesses provide insights to the government about the impact of policy change, using real farm data.
The SFBS also creates a national group average dataset from which all in the industry can benchmark their own performance and set direction for improvement.
Longer term, the data will allow those in the Scottish farming industry to see ten+ year trends in profitability in various farm types.
SAC Consulting, part of Scotland Rural College (SRUC), is again leading the survey development on behalf of the government.
Sascha Grierson, head of the agri-economics unit at SAC Consulting, said contributions to the survey from farmers - which are anonymous - 'are invaluable'.
“Among many benefits, farmers can see a breakdown of their costs, their net worth, and measure their overall business performance," she said.
"In addition, they get a free carbon footprint audit to track their resource use in their business."
Some key details to emerge for 2022-23 include that the average farm has increased profit compared to the year before and, significantly, is profitable without support.
However, this hides a polarised picture across the different farming sectors, with livestock farms on average making a loss before support payments.
When considered as an average across different livestock farm types, net profit is down 10% compared to previous years.
Farmers taking part in the new survey will receive the Farm Business Report, which is a set of detailed management accounts to help them understand their business finances and allow them to track performance for up to three years.
They will also receive a business planning tool that allows them to compare their business with other similar businesses and track progress year on year.
Ms Gierson added: “Taking part in the survey is a worthwhile exercise that will provide insights that make a real impact on your business.
“It also supports Scottish agricultural policy decision-making to reflect the way in which the sector is changing across the country.”
Farmers who wish to participate in this year’s survey can email ScottishFarmBusinessSurvey@sac.co.uk or call 07557 661316.
