Total Farm Incomes Up 13%

Defra released the first estimates of total income from farming (TIFF) recently and it is reported to have risen by £708m or 13% in real terms between 2012 and 2013 to £5,464m. In terms of annual work units (AWU) of entrepreneurial labour the increase was 15% in real terms to £28,426 in 2013. The difference is due to a decline in the numbers of farmers and other unpaid workers.

Key contributors to the increase were milk by £505m, potatoes by £210m, and barley by £199m. The increases were offset by a decrease in value of oilseeds of £245m and an increase in the cost of animal feed of £740m.

Agriculture's contribution to GDP measures as gross value added at basic price increased by 7% or £604m to £9,222m. Intermediate consumption increased by £892m to £16,492m mainly due to an increase in the price of animal feed an additional increase in the value of seed. There was a reduction in the number of employees but a small increase in pay of £23m to compensate. The total compensation of employees in 2013 was £2,379m.

Compared to 1994 total income from farming per AWU of entrepreneurial labour has increased by 10% compared to a 15% fall in total income from farming.

Farm Gate Milk Price Now 33.7p

Farm gate milk prices fell by 0.6% or 0.2p/litre to 33.7p/litre because a large number of dairies cut the prices they pay to milk producers during March 2014. The price this March is still up 12% on the price of milk in March last year when the price was 30.07p/litre.

The average butterfat content percentage in March 2014 was provisionally 4.06% and the average protein content percentage was 3.26%.

Record Milk Prices Again

Prices paid to dairy farmers have increased again in October giving another record high UK average farm gate milk price of 33.5p/litre. It is a 15% increase over the year (29.1p/l in October 2012).

The average butterfat content of UK milk was 4.08%, 2.6% lower than last year and the average protein content was 3.31%, 0.02% lower than last year.

New Pocketbook Of Agricultural Statistics

There are some interesting statistics in the new Pocketbook on agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics.

France is the main producer of cereals in the EU28 with 285m tonnes or 24% of the total, Germany produced 16% (45.4m tonnes) and the UK contributed 19.5m tonnes or 7%. France was also the biggest producer of common wheat with 28% of total EU28 production, grain maize (26%) and barley (21%). Germany was the main rye and maslin producer with 43%.

The largest quantity of cow's milk was produced by Germany with 29.7m tonnes or 21% of total EU28 production then France with 24.4m tonnes or 17% and the UK with 13.6m tonnes or 10%. The UK was the biggest producer of drinking milk with 6.9m tonnes or 22% of EU28 production. Germany was the biggest producer of cheese (23%), cream (21%) and butter (23% in the EU28 with France following with 21%, 16% and 20% respectively.

Agriculture Sees Fall in API in August

The agricultural prices index published by Defra for all outputs fell by 2.5% in August but remains 0.6% higher than last year. The API for all inputs fell by 0.5% but is still 1% higher than last year.

All of the output price categories fell with the exception of milk. Cereals fell 9.7% and are 13% lower than last year, oilseed rape fell 8% and is 15% down on last year, potatoes are 8.8% lower than last year and vegetable prices are down 5.1% and 6% on last year. Livestock prices are 4% down in August but are still 5% higher than last year. Milk has seen a 2.2% increase in price in August and are 20% higher than last year.

On the input side animal feed has fallen in price by 7.2% reflecting falling prices in cereal and industrial crops. Motor fuel price increases of 2.7% have put them 2.3% up on last year.

Agricultural Prices Fall But Still Above Last Year

Farm gate prices fell by 6.2% in July but they remain 4.9% above last year's prices. Input prices also fell by 1.1% in July but they are also above last year's prices by 2.9%.

Output prices fell across the board in July except for forage crops. Cereals fell 8.3% due to a fall in demand as traders expect global production to rise, but prices are still 0.4% higher than last year. Global supply is also keeping the price of oilseed rape down. OSR prices fell 13% in July and are 11% down on last year.

Potato prices fell 46% on the month due to early potato prices which fell 8% as the season ended. Vegetables fell 13% and are 11% down on last year. Cauliflowers fell 57%. Increased supply, warm weather and low demand combined to bring the prices down.

Livestock prices were better as animal and animal products prices increased 0.2% on the month and 11% on the year. The rise was mainly due to a 1.9% increase in the price of milk which is 19% higher than last year.

Feed prices have seen a gradual fall of 2.4% over the last few months but they are still 12% above this time last year. Feed cereals saw the biggest fall in price with an 8.6% fall.

Milk Prices Up In May But Butterfat And Protein Content Down

The latest monthly information regarding the prices milk prices and the butterfat and protein content of milk in the UK sujggests that in May 2013 the average farm gate price of milk was 29.82p/litre, up 2.89p/litre on the previous year.

The average butterfat content was 3.91% compared with 3.97% last year and the average protein content was 3.22% compared with 3.24% last year.

Milk Intake Down 0.9%

The intake of raw milk in February 2013 fell by 0.9% on the same period in 2012 to 757m litres. The majority of the intake was used in the production of liquid milk and cheese, mainly cheddar. The milk total intake included 12.5m litres of skim milk and 12m litres of cream.

A total of 175m litres of whole milk was separated of which 141m litres were skim milk and 46m litres were cream. The total available were 582m litres of whole milk, 153m litres of skim milk and 46m litres of cream. Other products included powders, yogurt and condensed milk which accounted for 25m litres of whole milk, 40m litres of skim milk amd 2m litres of cream.

Milk Intake Down 4.5% On Last Year

The raw whole milk intake for November 2012 was 4.5% down on November last year at 716m litres according to Defra data. Nearly 361m litres of whole milk and 97m litres of skim milk went to use as liquid milk. Cheese production accounted for over 134m litres of whole milk and 23m litres of skim milk. The survey by Defra regularly accounts for about 95% of milk available for processing into a range of milk products. The other 5% is used in the production of liquid milk and cheese and products like cream, yogurt and other milk products.

Milk Prices Rise In April

The UK average farm gate price of milk excluding bonuses was 27.91p/litre, up 1.5p/l on April 2011 according to Defra. The butterfat content increased from 4.02% in April 2011 to 4.06% in 2012. The average protein content also increased from 3.22% to 3.26% over the same period.

January Farm Gate Price Of Milk Higher Than Last Year

The average UK farm gate price of a litre of milk increased by 3.06p over last January to 28.84p/litre. The average butterfat content was 4.14% compared with 4.03% last year and the average protein content was the same as last year at 3.28%.

Farm Gate Milk Price Decrease In November

The UK average price of a litre of milk in November 2011 was 29.3p, compared with 3.13p/l in November 2010. The average butterfat content was 4.17% and the average protein content was 3.33% compared with 4.11% and 3.36% respectively in 2010.

An Increase In Agricultural Price Indices In September

The index of prices received by producers for the total of all agricultural products for September 2011 was 165.7, up from 159.2 in August.

The index of prices paid by producers for the total of all means of agricultural production for September 2011 was 153.1, up from 153.0 in August. The slight increase in purchase prices being covered by the larger increase in production prices. There was an increase in the price of fuel. Confidence is returning to cereals markets after fears of bad harvest weather subsided and prices retruned to normal after increasing earlier in the year. Potato prices started well this year as bad weather reduced availability. News of adequate harvests reduced fears and prices came down again.

Milk prices have increased steadily over the last 18 months with good demand and supply ensuring a good market. Good market conditions also apply to the beef market. Sheep and lamb prices have been sustained but prime prices are beginning to tail off.

Farm Gate Price Of Milk Increase Of 2.79p/litre In September

The latest milk prices release from Defra shows that the farm gate price of milk increased by 2.79p to 28.03p/litre in September. The average butterfat content was 4.09% and the protein content was 3.31% compared with 3.92% and 3.33% respectively in September 2010.

Farm Gate Price Of Milk Up By 2.84p/litre In August

The UK average farm gate price of milk increased by 2.84 p/litre to 27.54p/litre in August 2011 compared to August 2010. The average butterfat content was 4% compared with 3.85% in August last year and 3.92 in July and the average protein content was the same as last year at 3.25% but higher than the 3.23% of July. The farm gate milk price in July was 27.2p/litre (Prices exclude retrospective bonus payments made by purchasers).

Milk Price Rises 2.7p/litre

The farm gate price of milk increased by 2.7p/litre to 26.34p/litre in May 2011. The average butterfat content of UK milk was 3.91% compared with with 4.02% in April and 3.8% in May 2010 and the average protein content was 3.24% compared with 3.22% in April and 3.27% in May last year.

Volume Of Milk 5.6% Up

The latest release from Defra on milk used by dairies in England and Wales tells us that the intake of raw whole milk was 813m litres, a 5.6% increase on April 2010.

The milk was used for a range of liquid milk and milk products including 346m litres of whole milk and 102m litres of skim milk used for liquid milk and 172m litres of whole milk and 24m litres of skim milk used for cheese production. Milk used in yogurt production was included as part of the 29,434,000 litres of whole milk used to produce yogurt, condensed milk and other dairy products. Over 97m litres of skim milk and nearly 2m litres of cream were also used in the production of yogurt.

The total separated from the total intake for skim milk and cream was 237,891,000 litres leaving the total available 575,471,000 litres.

Farm Gate Milk Prices Up In April

The average farm gate price of milk in April 2011 was 26.24p/litre, 2.67p/litre up on last year according to the latest figures from Defra. Butterfat content increased from 3.94% last April to 4.02% this year while protein content fell from 3.23% to 3.22%.

November Milk Supply Increase

The latest milk statistics released by Defra show that in November 2010 wholesale milk deliveries in the UK were 34.3m litres per day on average an increase of an average 1.5m litres per day on November 2009.

Utilisation Of Milk October 2010

The key results from the release issued by Defra giving the latest milk utilisation statistics show that the intake of raw milk was 723m litres, 0.1% higher than October last year. The amount of milk used for liquid milk was 331m litres of whole milk and 97m litres of skim milk. Cheese production accounted for 136m litres of whole milk, 11m skim litres of skim milk and 1m cream litres of cream.

The range of products manufactured by the dairy industry butter which used 13m litres of cream. Other products included 31m litres of whole milk, 72m litres of skim milk and 1.6m litres of cream to make milk powders, yogurt and condensed milk.