The chief statistician in the Scottish Government last week published Total Income from Farming estimates for Scotland 2016-2018, which contains near-final estimates of total income from farming (TIFF) for 2017 and an initial estimate of 2018 TIFF.
Although not all the data is yet in, net income for 2018 was estimated as £672 million, down from £729 million in 2017. The fall is partly due to the cost of feed stuffs, which is estimated to have risen by £74 million in 2018. Total costs were estimated to have increased about five per cent. Labour costs increased by £26 million to £441 million, and fuel costs increased by £18 million to £147 million. The total value of outputs only increased marginally. Barley and milk saw the biggest increases in value. While the harvest was adversely aThected by the dry summer, prices were good and barley output was estimated to have risen £58 million to £312 million.