Agriculture in the South West

This paper provides statistics on agriculture in South West England in comparison with the rest of England.

Land: In 2022, a quarter of England’s agricultural holdings (25,882) and a fifth of England’s total farmed area (1.78 million hectares) was in the South West. The average farm size was 69 hectares in the South West, which was 21% smaller than the England average of 87 hectares.

Crops: In the South West in 2022 there was 1.8 million hectares of farmed land. 18% of this farmed land was cereals, 9% arable crops, 1% fruit and vegetables and 47% permanent grass.

Livestock: Of the England total in 2022, the South West had 34% of cattle (1.7 million), 20% of sheep (3.0 billion), 12% of poultry (17.1 million) and 9% of pigs (0.4 million).

Labour: In 2022, the total labour in the South West was 65,988, accounting for 22% of the England total. On average, there were 2.5 people per farm in the South West, this is below the England average of 2.9 people per farm.

Farm Business Income (FBI): In the South West, the average FBI was £60,715 for all types of farms in 2021/22. This was 29% lower than the average England FBI of £86,055. However, the South West FBI for dairy farms was £173,365, which was 24% higher than the England FBI of £140,242.

Total Income from Farming (TIFF): Total Income from Farming (TIFF) for England was £4.2 billion in 2021. The South West had the third highest TIFF and contributed to 16% of the England TIFF with £660 million. TIFF was £126 million (3% of the English total) in Devon.

Farm Funding: In 2021, Direct Payments accounted for 62% of TIFF in the South West.

Bovine Tuberculosis: The South West England is a High Risk Area (HRA) for bovine tuberculosis.