Official Statistics

Agricultural facts: Yorkshire and the Humber region

Updated 30 October 2025

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-facts-england-regional-profiles/agricultural-facts-yorkshire-and-the-humber-region

Section 1: Key statistics

Figure 1.1: A map of England with the Yorkshire and the Humber region highlighted

Source: Office for National Statistics, Open Geography Portal

The Yorkshire and the Humber region comprises North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Northern Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Key statistics for the Yorkshire and the Humber region

  • Total Income from Farming[footnote 1] in Yorkshire and The Humber in 2024 was £582 million, an increase of £132 million (+29%) from 2023. This was a result of a decrease of £84 million (-7.1%) in total crop output, an increase of £89 million (+5.5%) in total livestock output and a decrease of £120 million (-5.9%) in intermediate consumption (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • In 2024, the largest contributors to the output[footnote 2] value (£3.1 billion) were pigmeat (£499 million), poultry (£340 million), milk (£294 million) and wheat (£273 million). These commodities accounted for 45% of the output (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • The average farm size in 2024 was 91 hectares (Table 1.1). This is the fourth largest average farm size of all the English regions and larger than the English average of 87 hectares.
  • The predominant farm types in 2024 were grazing livestock (41% of the region’s holdings) and cereal (20% of the region’s holdings) farms (Figure 1.7). Although pig farms only accounted for 4.4% of the region’s holdings, the region accounted for 40% of the English pig population (Table 1.3).
  • In 2023/24 (covering the 2023 harvest), the average Farm Business Income[footnote 3] across all farm types was £50,700 per farm, which was a decrease of 43% from 2022/23 (Figure 1.9).

Figure 1.2: Total Income from Farming from 2019 to 2024 in current prices (£ million)

Year Total Income from Farming
2019 393
2020 328
2021 498
2022 621
2023 449
2024 582

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.3: Outputs and subsidies split by percentage from 2019 to 2024 (£ million)

Year Total livestock output Total crop output Subsidies (excluding tax) Diversification Other agricultural activities
2019 1,234
(45%)		 988
(36%)		 245
(9.0%)		 123
(4.5%)		 122
(4.5%)
2020 1,290
(49%)		 836
(32%)		 239
(9.2%)		 124
(4.8%)		 118
(4.5%)
2021 1,382
(47%)		 1,087
(37%)		 233
(7.8%)		 140
(4.7%)		 128
(4.3%)
2022 1,567
(45%)		 1,380
(40%)		 201
(5.8%)		 152
(4.4%)		 151
(4.4%)
2023 1,608
(49%)		 1,188
(36%)		 195
(5.9%)		 160
(4.8%)		 159
(4.8%)
2024 1,697
(51%)		 1,104
(33%)		 217
(6.5%)		 165
(4.9%)		 159
(4.8%)

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.4: Inputs and costs split by percentage from 2019 to 2024 (£ million)

Year Total intermediate consumption Total consumption of fixed capital Compensation of employees Rent and other associated costs
2019 1,604
(70%)		 394
(17%)		 226
(9.9%)		 60
(2.6%)
2020 1,566
(70%)		 390
(17%)		 231
(10%)		 58
(2.6%)
2021 1,737
(71%)		 409
(17%)		 237
(9.7%)		 58
(2.4%)
2022 2,026
(73%)		 458
(16%)		 250
(9.0%)		 58
(2.1%)
2023 2,024
(72%)		 467
(17%)		 248
(8.9%)		 57
(2.0%)
2024 1,904
(71%)		 478
(18%)		 244
(9.1%)		 56
(2.1%)

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.5: Distribution of farms by size in 2024 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
Yorkshire and the Humber 15% 24% 19% 17% 26% 100%
England 14% 27% 20% 16% 24% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “ha” means “hectares”.

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

Figure 1.6: Distribution of farms by size in 2024 (percentage of farmed area)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
Yorkshire and the Humber 0.3% 2.9% 7.1% 13% 77% 100%
England 0.3% 3.4% 7.6% 13% 76% 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 2024

Measure Yorkshire and the Humber England
Total farmed area (thousand hectares) 1,086 8,877
Average farm size (hectares) 91 87
Rented (% of farmed area) 34% 32%
Arable (% of farmed area) 53% 55%
Permanent pasture (% of farmed area) 32% 33%

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 2024 (thousand hectares)

Crop Yorkshire and the Humber England Yorkshire and the Humber as % of England
Wheat 192 1,402 14%
Barley 127 849 15%
Oilseed rape 38 250 15%
Potatoes 16 83 20%
Field veg 13 73 18%
Glasshouse 0.1 1.1 13%

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 2024 (thousand head)

Livestock Yorkshire and the Humber England Yorkshire and the Humber as % of England
Cattle 499 4,752 11%
Dairy herd 75 1,046 7.2%
Beef herd 71 570 12%
Pigs 1,462 3,680 40%
Sheep 1,962 13,831 14%
Poultry 15,019 128,581 12%
Table chickens 9,865 87,924 11%
Turkeys 535 3,123 17%

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 1.7: Distribution of farms by type in 2024 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
Yorkshire and the Humber 20% 17% 1.8% 3.4% 41% 8.8% 8.1% 100%
England 16% 21% 3.3% 4.9% 42% 7.0% 5.6% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

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

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.8: Distribution of farms by type in 2024 (percentage of farmed area)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
Yorkshire and the Humber 32% 16% 0.9% 5.0% 31% 11% 3.8% 100%
England 33% 17% 1.9% 8.3% 28% 9.3% 2.0% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

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

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.9: Average Farm Business Income in 2022/23 and 2023/24 (£ per farm)

Farm type Yorkshire and the Humber England
All farm types
(2023/24)		 50,700
(±21,300)		 45,300
(±6,500)
Cereals
(2023/24)		 31,900
(±20,500)		 39,400
(±12,700)
Grazing livestock
(2023/24)		 9,800
(±10,400)		 19,500
(±4,000)
All farm types
(2022/23)		 88,600
(±25,300)		 97,100
(±9,000)
Cereals
(2022/23)		 116,300
(±49,800)		 146,400
(±22,900)
Grazing livestock
(2022/23)		 18,600
(±10,100)		 24,200
(±4,100)

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

Notes:

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

  2. Excludes farms with less than £21,000 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. In a given Farm Business Survey year, the sample size for some farm types can be relatively small. This means that individual farms can have a large influence on the results, and the results should be treated with caution. See the Farm Business Income by type of farm in England publication for more information.

  6. Values are rounded to the nearest £100.

  7. Data correct as at October 2025.

Table 1.4: Labour force in 2024 (number of people)

Measure Yorkshire and the Humber England Yorkshire and the Humber as % of England
Total labour 29,782 284,797 10%
Total labour per farm 2.5 2.8 [z]
Regular workers 6,216 65,556 9.5%
Regular workers per farm 0.5 0.6 [z]
Casual workers 1,999 34,309 5.8%
Casual workers per farm 0.2 0.3 [z]
% full time 51% 47% [z]
% part time 38% 37% [z]
% casual 6.7% 12% [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: Data notes

Figures are for commercial holdings as at June 2024 (unless stated otherwise). 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.

“Region” in this statistical notice refers to International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) for England. The ITL1 regions for Greater London and the South East have been combined in this statistical notice due to the fact that London has such a small farming infrastructure.

This release contains the latest data available at the time of publishing. As a result, reference periods may vary. TIFF and FBI represent data from distinct time periods: TIFF covers January to December 2024, while FBI spans March 2023 to February 2024. As these metrics reflect different reporting periods, direct comparisons between the two should be avoided.

Section 3: Other geographical breakdowns

Defra June Survey data aggregated at other geographical classifications can be found in the Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June statistical data set on GOV.UK.

England regional data for aggregate agricultural accounts (including data at ITL2 and ITL3) can be found in the Total Income from Farming for the regions of England publication on GOV.UK.

Section 4: Contact details

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. Output is the total value (at market prices) 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. ↩

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