FBI AND NFI TREND COMPARISONS BETWEEN 2006/07 & 2007/08
The following table and charts provide a comparison of NFI and FBI trends between 2006/07 and 2007/08.
Table 7: NFI & FBI Trend Comparisons between 2006/07 & 2007/08
£ per farm
Type of Farms | NFI | FBI | Trend
06/07 to 07/08 |
|---|
2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 |
|---|
Farm Type | NFI | FBI |
|---|
Specialist Sheep ( LFA) | 1,932 | 11,856 | 7,644 | 16,905 | 9,924 | 9,261 |
|---|
Specialist Beef ( LFA) | 14,117 | 17,081 | 19,531 | 22,241 | 2,964 | 2,710 |
|---|
Cattle and Sheep ( LFA) | 12,668 | 18,397 | 19,707 | 26,243 | 5,729 | 6,535 |
|---|
Cereals | 20,752 | 45,223 | 33,307 | 60,478 | 24,471 | 27,171 |
|---|
General Cropping | 43,053 | 57,968 | 54,055 | 70,518 | 14,915 | 16,463 |
|---|
Dairy | 32,662 | 52,698 | 47,366 | 68,532 | 20,036 | 21,166 |
|---|
Lowland Cattle and Sheep | 24,016 | 21,837 | 28,193 | 26,441 | -2,179 | -1,753 |
|---|
Mixed | 20,777 | 24,626 | 31,332 | 35,229 | 3,849 | 3,897 |
|---|
All Farm Types | 19,786 | 29,828 | 28,554 | 39,219 | 10,042 | 10,665 |
|---|
Chart 10: NFI & FBI Trends, by Farm Type, from 2006/07 to 2007/08
Commentary
The absolute trends between 2006/07 and 2007/08 were very similar at the national level for NFI (+£10,042) and FBI (+£10,665). This reflects the fairly constant nature of the factors which account for the difference between the two measures. The biggest absolute difference in trends by farm type was for Cereal farms, where NFI showed an increase of £24,471 compared to an FBI increase of £27,171. However, these results still lead to a similar conclusion.
NFI and FBI trends are more susceptible to changes in production levels, market prices for input costs and outputs as well as changes to levels of financial support. The main causes behind the trends in NFI were reported in Farm Incomes in Scotland 2007/08 3. The publication shows that 2007/08 was an exceptional year for Cereal and Dairy farms due to the large increase in prices for cereals and milk from 2006/07. The large increases in NFI in 2007/08 for Cereal, Dairy and General Cropping farms are matched by similar increases in FBI.
There was a 50 per cent increase in LFASS payments in 2007/08, as 2007/08 results include core LFASS payments, whereas 2006/07 results only include the one-off supplement payments associated with the re-alignment of LFASS payments towards the end of the 2007 calendar year. Furthermore, the 2007/08 figures include payments made under the Scottish Ewe Scheme. This was a one-off scheme introduced in November 2007, designed to help the sheep sector recover from the crisis resulting from the foot and mouth outbreak in England. The large increases in NFI in 2007/08 for LFA farms types and those with sheep are matched by similar increases in FBI.
Some of the differences in trends between NFI and FBI could be due to changes to farms in the sample between the two periods, which may have a slightly different profile in terms of the factors impacting on NFI and FBI differences. Furthermore, income from diversified activities was collected on a different basis in 2006/07 and 2007/08 and this may impact slightly on the trends in FBI.