New figures have revealed that the efficiency and competitiveness of UK agriculture, as measured on how well inputs are converted into outputs on farms, known collectively as Total Factor Productivity (TFP), fell by 2.2 per cent last year.
In 2016 the volume of inputs used remained relatively static, falling by 0.3 per cent on average across all farming sectors compared with the previous 12 months. However, the level of outputs fell by an overall average of 2.5 per cent.
According to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), this drop was driven by an average fall of 7.9 per cent in production on arable farms, which was, in turn, dragged down by a staggering 30 per cent fall in oilseed rape production.
The main change in inputs was fertiliser, which rose by almost 12 per cent. Other increases were in fuel, for machinery and compound feed. The area of land used to produce outputs also rose on 2015.
On other inputs, labour was down 1.1 per cent, veterinary medicine was down by 1.4 per cent and plant protection products were down by 1.5 per cent. However, seed and building maintenance input costs fell by levels closer to the overall average of 0.3 per cent.
A Defra spokesperson said that setting the figures against a longer-term picture, productivity is still on an upward trend in UK and, although there are annual fluctuations, the long-term trend is still one of “slow but steady overall improvement”. The spokesperson added that the 2.2 per cent overall fall was measured against a record high for outputs in 2015.