Agricultural change and farm incomes in Devon: an update CRR Research Report No. 17 Keith Robbins, Allan Butler, Martin Turner and Matt Lobley June 2006 For further information, please contact Dr Matt Lobley, Centre for Rural Research, Lafrowda House, University of Exeter, St German’s Road, Exeter, EX4 6TL. Tel: 01392 264539. E-Mail:
[email protected] CRR Research Report No. 17 ISBN 1 870558 95 2 The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by other members of the University or by the University as a whole. Copyright © 2006, Centre For Rural Research, University of Exeter Contents Page 1 The nature of agricultural change in Devon: evidence from the Agricultural Census 5 Recent trends in farm incomes: evidence from the Farm Business Survey and Defra sources 12 Trends in farm income at the level of Devon districts 18 Statistical appendix 1 The nature of agricultural change in Devon: evidence from the Agricultural Census This section draws largely on data from the Agricultural (June) Census to describe the current characteristics of farming in Devon and the pattern of agricultural change over a number of years. Before addressing the nature of farming in Devon it is important to recognise some of the limitations of the use of agricultural census data. The June census of agricultural and horticultural holdings is the main source of trend data on holding size, land use, labour inputs, etc. Although commentators frequently refer to changes in the number of farms of different types and sizes, it should be noted that agricultural census data is collected at the holding level and that a farm and a holding are not necessarily synonymous (i.e.