The UK economy benefited from nearly £10 billion last year despite a drop in incomes on farms – confirmed by Defra in April as nearly 5 per cent, with total farming income now £5.7 billion. The average individual farm income in real terms was down also by 4.4 per cent to £27,847. Subsidy support was down by 14% to £2.933 billion, due largely to a change in the exchange rate between sterling and the euro, producing a reduction of £64 million.
Despite the fall in income, Defra told the Press and Journal newspaper in Scotland that the UK agriculture industry’s contribution to the UK economy was up by 3.2 per cent to £9.922 billion. Provisionally, Defra stated that the value of potato sales fell by £293 million to £884 as a result of a fall in prices of 27%. There was reduction in income in 2014 of £45 million from cereals and other crops.
