Succession fears dampen farmers' optimism

The Commission for Rural Communities’ (CRC) 202-page ‘State of the countryside’ report concludes that rural businesses have been ‘relatively resilient’ in the face of the economic recession.

It identifies agriculture, along with construction and property and business services, as the ‘predominant industry sectors’ operating in rural areas.

The output of UK agricultural commodities reached £19.3 billion in 2009, with total income earned by farmers provisionally estimated to be £4.1bn, 6.2 per cent down on 2008. Output fell slightly since 2008, mainly because of reductions in cereals and milk prices, but over the past five years has increased ‘significantly’ from £13.6bn in 2005.

This general upturn in fortunes, albeit in an industry where most sectors continue to be ‘heavily reliant’ on EU financial support, appears to have engendered increasing confidence among famers about their business prospects.

An ADAS survey showed that, while 4 per cent of respondents intended to give up farming, 39 per cent are happy to continue, up from 26 per cent in 2007. A further 17 per cent, up from 11 per cent in 2007, see their future in farming and want to increase the size of their businesses.

However, the report noted the increasing age profile of farmers and related concerns over the willingness of the younger generation in farming families to take over the business. A third of respondents in the ADAS survey reported that there would definitely not be, or there was unlikely to be, succession within the business.

The report will be one of the CRC’s last pieces of work, following Defra Secretary Caroline Spelman announcement last week’s that the commission is to be abolished as one of the first victims of Defra’s spending cuts. 

CRC chairman Stuart Burgess, said this year’s report offers some ‘intriguing insights’ into how people living and working in rural areas have fared in the economic downturn. “While the recession has hit rural areas hard, with some rural areas experiencing greater increases in unemployment than urban ones, rural businesses have higher rates of survival,” he said.

Country land and Business Association president William Worsley said: “The State of the Countryside Report may show the dynamism and resilience of the rural economy compared with other sectors, but that is no excuse for government indifference.

“As the report notes, the countryside is about farming and the environment. The landscape and wildlife depend on the way in which land is managed. We therefore need policies in place that recognise this connection and promote both farming and the environment.”

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