DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (99/07) issued by
The Government News Network on 29 March 2007
Following concerns
about the impact on agriculture of crude oil price increases, a
new chapter entitled Intermediate consumption has been added to
our annual report into UK agriculture.
The chapter presents long-term trends in crude oil prices and
intermediate consumption e.g. fuels, feed, seeds etc and
demonstrates how key inputs, such as fuels, electricity and
fertiliser are closely linked to the oil price.
Our report Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2006, is the most
authoritative statistical release on agriculture produced by
Government, provides a statistical overview of important
developments in agriculture in the United Kingdom.
Other report contents include information on farming income, farm
structure, prices, crop and animal production, costs, the food
chain, overseas trade and other agricultural issues.
Headline
statistics for 2006 include:
* Total Income from Farming rose by 7 per cent in real terms to
£2.7 billion;
* agriculture contributed £5.6 billion to the national economy;
* the area of agricultural land was 19 million hectares, about 77
per cent of the total land area in the United Kingdom;
* the average producer price of agricultural products rose by 4
per cent while the average price of agricultural inputs rose by
3.5 per cent;
* in real terms, average net farm income for all types of farm in
the United Kingdom is expected to be around £20,600 in 2006/07,
about 20 per cent higher than 2005/06;
* productivity rose by 2 per cent as the volume of final output
fell by 1 per cent and the volume of all inputs fell by 3 per cent.
* the area of land being managed under agri-environment schemes
has increased to over 7,500 million hectares and the number of
agreements to over 85,000.
A pocketbook, Agricultural Statistics in your Pocket 2006, which
complements Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2006 is also
published today. This is free and may be obtained from the
Agriculture in the United Kingdom team on 01904 455407 or keith.seabridge@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
Notes to editors
Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2006 is
the nineteenth in an annual series. It is available (ISBN
978-0-11243095-7) from The Stationery Office (TSO), telephone 0870
600 5522, price £25, and is also available on the internet at
http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/auk/default.asp.
A
statistical notice
(http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/statnot/account.pdf) provided
a summary of the provisional estimates of incomes, output and
productivity of UK agriculture set out in this publication.
Following the publication of Agriculture in the United Kingdom
2006 a seminar will be held in York on 9 May 2007 to discuss
current and future prospects of the farming industry. Further
details are available from Keith Seabridge at
keith.seabridge@defra.gsi.gov.uk or David Peacock on +44 (0) 1904 455407.
Public enquiries 08459 335577
Press notices are available on our website
http://www.defra.gov.uk
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