From Pressure to Profit: Rethinking Financial Resilience on UK Farms

Why It Matters

The FBS data directly shapes government policy, funding decisions and farm benchmarking, so these structural and financial trends determine where support and lending should be targeted and how farms must adapt to preserve profitability and resilience. Robust, timely insights are therefore critical for lenders, policymakers and farmers planning investment and risk management.

Summary

Primar hosted a Farmers Weekly webinar on UK farm financial resilience featuring Farm Business Survey (FBS) lead Emma Hayes, industry consultants and HSBC agricultural banking deputy head Grace Odoire. The FBS—marking its 90th year—provides detailed annual data used to track structural change: the number of holdings has fallen (248k in 2005 to 209k in 2024), average farm size has risen (69.2ha to ~89.6ha in England), arable area has been stable while horticultural area and small holdings have declined, especially since 2022. Panelists emphasised using FBS cost, income, labour and asset data to diagnose current pressures, benchmark performance and model future financial resilience. The session framed these trends as central to understanding profitability, investment needs and sector vulnerability going forward.

Original Description

Join Promar to learn from nine decades of Farm Business Survey data, combined with financial consultancy expertise to empower farm businesses with perspective, clarity, and practical advise for managing incomes in the years ahead.

In this webinar we:

-Learn how you can build a strong and resilient business amid income pressures

-Key insights from decades of Farm Business Survey data to provide perspective and clarity

-Practical financial advise an