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Scottish Farms Among the Most Efficent, But Could go Further - SAC Research Shows

SAC News Release Ref. No: 10N60
Published: 13 Aug 2010

Cattle in field (opens in new window)

Research into farm efficiency, carried out by SAC for Government, shows Scottish farming performs well when compared with those in the other UK countries and the EU. Using data provided by farm accounts surveys, or their near equivalent, researchers found that in Scotland dairying performed especially well while sectors such as cattle and sheep production or general cropping also maintained a high ranking. However, when compared with others, the Scottish cereal sector faced limitations.

The work was commissioned by DEFRA to assess efficiencies across England and Wales. Figures from Scotland, N Ireland and then EU were included for comparison. The data used spanned the period 1989 to 2008.

The researchers focussed on “relative technical efficiency” which allowed them to rank farms and farm types according to the maximum outputs they could achieve from a given level of inputs. Statistical techniques ruled out the effects of random events like weather or disease.   

According to Dr Andrew Barnes, SAC Team Leader in Resource Economics,

“All of Scotland’s agricultural sectors perform well within themselves and against each other, but it is when they are compared with others that differences emerge. For livestock they rank high, especially in dairying, with a small dip for cattle and sheep in the LFA. While the efficiency of cereal producers is really excellent in Scottish terms, they still rank behind both England & Wales and N Ireland. The reasons are unclear, but there could be some underlying structural or biophysical reason giving the others an advantage.”

Also revealed by the study was how few of the farms altered their position within broad efficiency bands. On average 60% of them stayed within their set level. Only 20% improved significantly, while another 20% fell into a lower group.

“It could be attributed to the resilience of the industry”, says Andrew Barnes, “especially when you consider the challenges faced during the period, from CAP reform to major disease outbreaks. On the other hand it may also be alerting us to other factors that might be holding businesses back and which we must address”.

Dr Barnes carried out the Scottish work with colleague Dr Cesar Revoredo-Giha. The research they contributed to also showed that, when compared with EU examples like the large farms of Poland, some UK farm types still had room for improvement. 

The report can be found here

Agricultural Efficiency at Farm Level

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News Release Contacts

SAC Contact

Dr Andrew Barnes
Agricultural Management Economist
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work SAC, King's Buildings, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
TelWork 0131 535 4042

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News Release Issued By

Mr Ken Rundle
Senior Communications Officer
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work SAC, King's Buildings, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
TelWork 0131 535 4196

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