Official Statistics

Agricultural facts: West Midlands region

Updated 25 April 2024

Applies to England

Section 1: Key statistics

Figure 1.1: A map of England with the West Midlands region highlighted

Source: Office for National Statistics, Open Geography Portal

The West Midlands region comprises Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

Key statistics for the West Midlands region

• Total Income from Farming^{[footnote 1]} in 2022 was £644 million, an increase of 7.1% since 2021 (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
• In 2022, the largest contributors to the gross output^{[footnote 2]} value (£3.3 billion) were milk (£605 million), poultry meat (£488 million) and wheat (£363 million). These commodities accounted for 45% of the total output (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
• The average farm size in 2023 was 67 hectares (Table 1.1). This is the smallest average farm size of all the English regions and smaller than the English average of 88 hectares.
• The predominant farm types in 2023 were grazing livestock (44% of the region’s holdings) and general cropping (21% of the region’s holdings) farms (Figure 1.4).
• Across all farm types, average Farm Business Income^{[footnote 3]} was £87,100 per farm in 2022/23, which was an increase of 19% from 2021/22 (Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.2: Distribution of farms by size in 2023 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region	<5 ha	5<20 ha	20<50 ha	50<100 ha	≥100 ha	Total
West Midlands	13%	28%	21%	17%	20%	100%
England	13%	26%	20%	17%	24%	100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. “ha” means “hectares”

2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Figure 1.3: Distribution of farms by size in 2023 (percentage of farmed area)

Region	<5 ha	5<20 ha	20<50 ha	50<100 ha	≥100 ha	Total
West Midlands	0.4%	4.7%	11%	19%	66%	100%
England	0.3%	3.3%	7.7%	14%	75%	100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. “ha” means “hectares”

2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Table 1.1: Land use in 2023

Measure	West Midlands	England
Total farmed area (thousand hectares)	912	8,999
Average farm size (hectares)	67	88
Rented (% of farmed area)	30%	32%
Arable (% of farmed area)	54%	53%
Permanent pasture (% of farmed area)	36%	34%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. Arable includes arable crops, uncropped arable land and temporary grass.

2. Rented land must be rented for at least one year.

Table 1.2: Crop areas in 2023 (thousand hectares)

Crop	West Midlands	England	West Midlands as % of England
Wheat	153	1,580	9.7%
Barley	57	799	7.2%
Oats	19	134	14%
Potatoes	12	82	15%
Orchards	5.5	19	29%
Small fruit	1.9	10	19%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. Crops displayed are those more predominant in the area.

2. Further data notes on crops can be found below the relevant tables in the statistical dataset for England’s regional breakdown of the structure of the agricultural industry at June.

Table 1.3: Livestock numbers in 2023 (thousand head)

Livestock	West Midlands	England	West Midlands as % of England
Cattle	646	4,864	13%
Dairy herd	153	1,053	15%
Beef herd	69	602	11%
Pigs	175	3,633	4.8%
Sheep	2,068	14,451	14%
Poultry	24,564	130,549	19%
Laying flock	4,973	23,007	22%
Table chickens	16,795	91,096	18%
Turkeys	174	2,417	7.2%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. Livestock displayed are those more predominant in the area.

2. Cattle numbers relate to commercial holdings only.

3. Sheep numbers include lambs.

Figure 1.4: Distribution of farms by type in 2023 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region	Cereals	General cropping	Horticulture	Dairy	Grazing livestock	Mixed	Pigs, Poultry & Other	Total
West Midlands	14%	21%	3.9%	5.3%	44%	7.8%	4.2%	100%
England	17%	21%	3.7%	5.0%	41%	7.0%	4.9%	100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.5: Distribution of farms by type in 2023 (percentage of farmed area)

Region	Cereals	General cropping	Horticulture	Dairy	Grazing livestock	Mixed	Pigs, Poultry & Other	Total
West Midlands	28%	18%	3.1%	10%	26%	12%	2.9%	100%
England	34%	17%	1.9%	8.3%	28%	9.2%	1.9%	100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.6: Average Farm Business Income in 2021/22 and 2022/23 (£ per farm)

Farm type	West Midlands	England
All farm types (2022/23)	87,100 (±21,100)	96,100 (±9,000)
Cereals (2022/23)	106,700 (±46,800)	150,400 (±24,700)
Grazing livestock (2022/23)	22,900 (±14,400)	22,900 (±4,100)
All farm types (2021/22)	73,400 (±16,500)	86,100 (±6,600)
Cereals (2021/22)	98,500 (±38,400)	120,100 (±16,600)
Grazing livestock (2021/22)	27,900 (±10,700)	37,100 (±3,500)

Source: Defra, Farm Business Survey (regional breakdown not published elsewhere)

Notes:

1. The Farm Business Survey year runs from March to February.

2. Excludes farms with less than 25,000 euros of standard output.

3. Farm types displayed are those more predominant in the area.

4. Lines or values in parentheses indicate the 95% confidence intervals.

5. Values are rounded to the nearest £100

Table 1.4: Labour force in 2023 (number of people)

Measure	West Midlands	England	West Midlands as % of England
Total labour	39,825	292,401	14%
Total labour per farm	2.9	2.9	[z]
Regular workers	7,528	64,583	12%
Regular workers per farm	0.6	0.6	[z]
Casual workers	6,853	37,027	19%
Casual workers per farm	0.5	0.4	[z]
% full time	44%	46%	[z]
% part time	36%	37%	[z]
% casual	17%	13%	[z]

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

1. “[z]” means “not applicable”

2. Total labour includes farmers, partners, directors, spouses, salaried managers, regular and casual workers.

3. Casual workers are those usually employed for less than 20 weeks of the year.

4. Number of workers per farm calculations are averages based on the total number of farm holdings in the region.

5. Part time workers are those employed for less than 39 hours a week.

6. Percentage calculations for full and part time workers do not include salaried managers.

Section 2: Other geographical breakdowns

Further information and other geographical classifications related to the Defra June Survey can be found on our GOV.UK web page: Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June.

England regional data for aggregate agricultural accounts can be found in the Total Income from Farming for the regions of England publication on GOV.UK.

English county data for farm accounts from the Farm Business Survey can be found on the Farm Business Survey web page.

Section 3: Data notes

Figures are for commercial holdings as at June 2023 (unless stated otherwise). Years may differ between measures since this publication uses data from a range of sources and is updated twice yearly to use the latest data available.

Commercial holdings are those with levels of farming activity above a specified threshold as detailed in this publication’s guidance note.

For further information about the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture please visit our survey notes and guidance page on GOV.UK.

Section 4: Contact details

Responsible statistician: Thomas Pearson

Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Email: AUK_stats_team@defra.gov.uk

For media queries between 9am and 5pm on weekdays:

Telephone: 0330 041 6560

Email: newsdesk@defra.gov.uk

1. Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is the net income to farms once costs have been accounted for, so is calculated as “outputs & subsidies” minus “inputs & costs”. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

2. Total output is the gross value of commodities produced without considering production costs or any additional income received through subsidies. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

3. In simple terms, Farm Business Income (FBI) is the output generated by the farm business minus total farm costs. More information on Farm Business Income can be found on GOV.UK. ↩