Study Shows Farmers to Lose Money on Food Production

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Monday, 28 October 2002

Britain's food industry is on the brink of collapse, a survey of farm incomes said yesterday. The Deloitte and Touche's study of 1,000 of the most successful farms found that it no longer made economic sense for farmers to produce food. The report predicted that farmers would lose £8 an acre on food production this year, with no likelihood of recovery in the foreseeable future. It said the Government was partly to blame for imposing too many regulations. Mark Hill, who heads the company's farm and agriculture department, said that only big, highly-capitalised farms were likely to survive – the opposite of the Government's desire for small environmentally friendly family farms. "We want a statement of long-term support from the Government. Then farmers will have the confidence to invest. Without it, there is no future for farming"
Source: Daily Telegraph via Soil Association website