Nearly half of UK farmers aren’t confident about their future, with price fluctuations the biggest challenge to profitability.
New research has revealed the difficult business landscape UK farmers are operating in; with 46% of farmers saying they do not think their business is profitable and secure for the future, and eight out of ten (80%) are worried about difficulties on the horizon.
Price and land availability were listed as the two biggest and most common barriers to profitability: half of farmers (52%) stated that price fluctuations for products sold was their current biggest limitation to their business success, while a similar number (49%) see it as their biggest future limitation too.
A third of farmers also viewed land availability as a current (34%) and future (30%) challenge.
The company behind the research, Hectare Agritech, the parent company of marketplace SellMyLivestock, surveyed 342 UK farmers about their future business plans and outlook, with the results highlighting the pressures facing the UK’s agriculture industry.
'Shortage of buyers'
The findings further revealed the key challenges facing farmers when it comes to buying and selling. For example, only a third (32%) agreed that there is always a competitive market for their produce with plenty of buyers.
Half (49%) agreed that, at times, there is a shortage of buyers and they have little choice of where they sell, and half (47%) agreed that they need more clarity from buyers about what they are seeing and what they will pay for.
However, while eight out of ten (82%) farmers believe that trialling new ideas and approaches is critical to their future success, only a half (56%) actively seek new technology to help improve their business.
To compound this even further; a similar number (51%) have not significantly changed how their business works to improve efficiency or grow, for over a year, while nearly two-thirds of farmers (67%) trial new technology once a year or less, and a fifth (19%) admit to never trialling new technology.
