The NFU has opened its farmer confidence survey for 2026, urging farmers to have their say as businesses continue to face policy upheaval, rising costs and ongoing uncertainty.
The union said the survey plays a key role in shaping its policy development and lobbying work, feeding directly into discussions with government and other industry decision makers.
Taking around 15–20 minutes to complete, the online questionnaire asks farmers about their confidence for the year ahead, alongside their views on wider pressures affecting farm businesses.
These include the government’s changes to inheritance tax and the relaunch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), with responses used to inform future NFU positions.
The survey remains open until Tuesday 20 January 2026, and the NFU is encouraging farmers to take part to ensure farmers’ experiences are fully reflected.
The importance of taking part was underscored by last year’s shocking findings, which highlighted the scale of the challenge facing the sector.
Farm business confidence fell beyond 2024’s record lows, reaching the weakest levels since the Farmer Confidence Survey began 15 years ago.
The results followed what the NFU described as another “hammer blow to farmers”, after Defra abruptly closed SFI applications in March.
More than 900 farming businesses across all major UK farming sectors took part in the survey, revealing mounting financial and policy pressures.
Around 85% of landowners said reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief would increase their inheritance tax liability. Of those affected, 32% said they planned to cut investment to manage the impact. This rose to 42% among mixed arable and livestock businesses and 49% for arable farms.
Meanwhile, 88% of respondents said the phasing out of direct payments would negatively impact their business.
Cost pressures were also a major concern, with 76% of employers expecting to be affected by increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions. As a result, 65% anticipated a reduction in profits, while 43% said they expected to scale back investment.
With confidence across the sector still fragile, the NFU said participation in the 2026 survey would be vital in shaping its priorities and strengthening its case to government in the year ahead.
