Official Statistics

Farmer Opinion Tracker for England: October 2024

Published 5 February 2025

Applies to England

This report contains estimates from the Farmer Opinion Tracker providing a snapshot of views and opinions towards Defra’s vision for farming at this time. Farmers were asked questions about business planning, relationships with farming organisations and Defra, new schemes and the future of farming.

A time-series comparing the results from each survey from September 2019 to date can be found on GOV.UK as well as a dataset providing a more detailed breakdown of each question’s responses for farm ownership, size, type and region.

Key messages for October 2024

• Farmers on 60% of holdings said that they either fully (8%) or roughly (52%) understand Defra’s vision for farming, a decrease from 64% in April 2024.
• Farmers on 35% of holdings indicated that they are making changes to their farm business and a further 45% said they will need to make changes to their farm business in the next 5 years.
• Farmers on 51% of holdings said that they would be making changes to their agri-environment scheme agreements within the next year.
• Farmers on 81% of holdings said that Defra paying for environmental outcomes will be very (60%) or moderately (21%) important to their business in the future.
• Farmers on 66% of holdings are not at all confident that changes to schemes and regulations will lead to a successful future for farming.
• Farmers on 35% of holdings feel positive about their future in farming (5% very positive; 30% somewhat positive).

Farmers had the opportunity to share their thoughts on farming (i.e. what was on their mind at the time of the survey). The open text comments analysis in section 2 provides context around the statistics.

Section 1 - Detailed Results

1.1 Vision

Defra is setting out what they think the future for farming would look like. In this vision, England’s farmers improve the health of our environment and animals as part of a sustainable, productive agricultural sector. In October 2024, when asked if they know what Defra’s vision meant for farming, farmers on 60% of holdings said that they either fully (8%) or roughly (52%) understood Defra’s vision (see Figure 1). A further 35% said they didn’t know but would be interested to know more. Farmers on the remaining 5% of holdings didn’t need to know what the future vision meant for farming.

Figure 1: Proportion of holdings that understand Defra’s vision for farming, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

1.2 Changes

In 2021, Defra started the transition away from the EU Common Agriculture Policy which will involve changes to the payments farmers receive and the regulations their businesses must follow. Farmers were asked whether they had all the information they needed at this point to help with their business planning (see Figure 2). In October 2024, farmers on 53% of holdings said they had all (8%) or most (45%) of the information they required. A further 17% indicated that they didn’t have any information but knew where they could find it. Farmers on 21% of holdings said they didn’t have any of the information they needed for their business planning and were unsure where to find it. The remaining 9% of all holdings didn’t know if they had all the information they needed.

Figure 2: Proportion of holdings that have the information they need to inform business planning, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

In October 2024, farmers on 80% of holdings said that they are currently (35%) or that they will need to make changes (45%) to their business in the next 5 years. This is a decrease from the proportion reported in April 2024 (Figure 3). A further 9% of farmers on all holdings indicated that they don’t need to make any changes to their farming business and the remaining 11% don’t know what changes they need to make.

Figure 3: Proportion of holdings that need to make changes to their farm business in the next 5 years, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Farmers who answered that they are making changes or will need to make changes to their farm business in the next 5 years were then asked what changes they are making or will need to make (see Figure 4). In October 2024, farmers on 39% of holdings said they would stay farming but diversify business into non-farming areas. This proportion is no change from 38% in April 2024. Around 21% of farmers said they will stay farming and grow the business and a further 21% said they will stay farming but increase productivity. A number of farmers indicated that they would leave farming, as 14% are planning on retiring or passing the farm onto the next generation and 9% would leave farming for other reasons. Farmers on 4% of holdings stated other changes they plan to make to their farm business which included putting more land into environmental schemes and reducing costs.

Figure 4: Changes to farm business, April 2024 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Notes:

1. Farms could select more than one option.

2. Only respondents who answered “I am making changes to my business” or “I will need to make changes to my business” to the previous question (“Do you feel you will need to make changes to your business in the next 5 years?”) were shown this question in the survey.

All farmers were asked whether a range of external factors led them to make changes on their farm, regardless of whether they intend to make changes to their business in the next 5 years. In October 2024, input price changes remained the most commonly selected external factor that led farmers to make changes to their business with farmers on 81% of holdings selecting this option (see Figure 5). This was followed by weather / climate change (66%), output price changes (61%) and trade agreements with other countries (30%). The least commonly selected external factor leading farms to make changes to their business was food security and supply (26%).

Figure 5: Changes to farm business due to external factors, April 2024 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Notes:

1. Farms could select more than one option.

In October 2024, farmers on 46% of holdings are either very (4%) or somewhat (42%) confident that they can respond to any changes that are needed. This is a decrease from 54% in April 2024 (very confident 6%; somewhat confident 48%). Farmers on 41% of all holdings are not at all confident they can respond to the changes needed and the remaining 13% are unsure (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Proportion of holdings that are confident they can respond to changes, April 2024 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

1.3 Environmental Schemes

Defra offers a range of environmental schemes for farmers, these agri-environment schemes include Countryside Stewardship, Environmental Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Farmers were asked if they planned on making any changes to any agri-environment agreements they have on their farm in the next year (see Figure 7). In October 2024, farmers on 71% of holdings said they already had an agri-environmental scheme agreement. Of these, 20% said they were not planning on making changes. Of those who said they were planning on making changes, 23% said they were planning to do more (e.g. more options or more land), 15% were planning to do another scheme alongside and 9% were planning to replace their current scheme with another, and the remaining 4% would not be renewing their agreements. A number of farmers indicated that they did not have an agri-environment scheme agreement in place, of these 13% were planning to do one, and 16% did not plan on doing one.

Figure 7: Proportion of holdings that plan to make changes to their agri-environment agreements within the next year

Download the data for this chart

Notes:

1. This question was added in April 2024

Farmers who answered that they were planning on making changes to their agri-environment agreements were asked what issues led to them planning these changes (see Figure 8). In October 2024, attractive financially remained the most selected factor that led farmers to plan changes to their agri-environment agreements, with farmers on 62% of holdings choosing this option. This was followed by fit easily into the way the business is run (56%), benefit my farm’s environment (40%), flexible to my needs (36%), easy to apply for (35%) and needed as I have significantly changed the business (e.g. bought more land) (5%). Farmers on 6% of holdings stated other factors led to them planning to enrol or make changes which included adverse weather and replacing income from BPS.

Figure 8: Factors influencing changes to agri-environment schemes/agreements within the next year

Download the data for this chart

Notes:

1. Farms could select more than one option.

2. This question was added in April 2024

3. Only respondents who answered they had an agri-environment scheme agreement already and were planning on making changes to the previous question (“In the next year, do you plan on making changes to any agri-environment schemes / agreements you have for your farm?”) were shown this question in the survey.

Farmers who answered that they do not plan to enrol or renew agri-environment scheme agreements in the next year were asked what issues led them to making this decision (see Figure 9). In October 2024, not attractive financially remained the most commonly selected factor that led farmers to choose not to enrol or renew agri-environment agreements, with farmers on 40% of holdings selecting this option, a decrease from 56% in April 2024 (see Figure 8). This was followed by will not fit easily into the way the business is run (36%), not easy to apply for (35%) not flexible to my needs (35%), will not benefit my farm’s environment (22%) and not an option as I plan to significantly change the business (e.g. retire, sell land, etc) (22%). Farmers on 17% of holdings stated other factors led to them not planning to enrol or renew agri-environmental agreements, this included not having enough land to qualifying for any schemes and concern over productivity.

Figure 9: Factors influencing non-enrolment or renewal in agri-environmental schemes/agreements within the next year

Download the data for this chart

Notes:

1. Farms could select more than one option.

2. This question was added in April 2024

3. Only respondents who answered “I have an agri-environment scheme agreement already but will not be renewing” or “I don’t have an agri-environment scheme agreement already but planning to do one” to the previous question (“In the next year, do you plan on making changes to any agri-environment schemes / agreements you have for your farm?”) were shown this question in the survey.

1.4 Groups

Farming organisations and advisors have a role in helping farm businesses to adapt to the changes needed. In October 2024, farmers on 36% of holdings agreed that these organisations were helping them to make changes, with an additional 7% strongly agreeing. This is no change from 35% and 6%, respectively, in April 2024. Approximately 37% neither agreed or disagreed and a further 16% said they either disagreed (9%) or strongly disagreed (7%) that these organisations were helping them to make changes (see Figure 10).

Figure 10: Proportion of holdings that agree farming organisations and advisors are helping them make changes to their business, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

The future vision for farming involves farm businesses responding to both existing and new market demand for produce. In October 2024, farmers on 70% of holdings said that producing for the end market would currently be very important for their farm business with a further 21% indicating that it would be moderately important (see Figure 11). Only 5% said that it was not at all important.

Looking to the future, producing for the end market was said to be very important by 68% of holdings and 18% indicated that it would be moderately important and only 5% said it was not at all important. Farmers on the remaining 9% of holdings were unsure.

Figure 11: Proportion of holdings that believe producing for the end market is important for their business, October 2024

Download the data for this chart

1.5 Environment

Defra’s vision for farming involves providing environmental outcomes. In October 2024, farmers on 81% of holdings said Defra paying for environmental outcomes was currently very (54%) or moderately (27%) important for their business (see Figure 12). A further 13% said that it was currently not at all important.

In October 2024, when asked how important it will be in the future for Defra to pay for environmental outcomes, farmers on 60% of holdings said it would be very important. A further 21% believed it would be moderately important and only 9% said that Defra paying for environmental outcomes in the future was not at all important.

Figure 12: Proportion of holdings that believe Defra paying for environmental outcomes would be important for their business, October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Environmental safeguards and standards in farming are maintained by both enforcing regulations and empowering individual responsibility. In October 2024, farmers on 36% of holdings either agreed (34%) or strongly agreed (2%) that the current approach balances enforcement with individual responsibility (see Figure 13). This is no change from 35% in April 2024 and 34% in October 2023. Farmers on 40% of holdings neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. A further 12% disagreed that the current approach balances enforcement with individual responsibility and 6% strongly disagreed. Farmers on the remaining 6% of holdings were unsure.

Figure 13: Proportion of holdings that agree the current approach balances enforcement with individual responsibility, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Regulations protect the environment, farmed animals and public health. In October 2024, farmers on 86% of holdings are either very (25%) or somewhat (61%) confident that they understand which regulations apply to their farm. This is no change from 86% in April 2024 (very confident 19%; somewhat confident 67%). A further 11% are not at all confident and only 3% don’t know which regulations apply to their farm (see Figure 14).

Figure 14: Proportion of holdings that are confident they understand which regulations apply to their farm, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Farmers were asked to consider the regulations that apply to their farms (outside the rules associated with any payment schemes) and 32% of all holdings indicated that they fully understood the purpose of the rules in October 2024. Farmers on 58% of all holdings say that they roughly understood the purpose of the rules which apply to their farm. A further 6% don’t understand the purpose but want to know and only 4% said that they don’t need to know.

Figure 15: Proportion of holdings that understand the purpose of the regulations which apply to their farm, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

1.6 Relationships

Farmers were asked how confident they were that changes to schemes and regulations will lead to a successful future for farming and 66% of holdings said that they are not confident at all (see Figure 16) in October 2024. Approximately 23% of holdings indicated that they are either very (1%) or somewhat (22%) confident in the changes to the schemes. The remaining 11% of farmers on all holdings don’t know if the changes to schemes will result in a successful future for farming.

Figure 16: Proportion of holdings that are confident the changes to schemes and regulations will lead to a successful future in farming, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Defra and Defra agencies such as the Rural Payments Agency and Natural England are working together to deliver planned changes to schemes and regulations. In October 2024, farmers on 57% of holdings are not at all confident in Defra and Defra agency’s ability to deliver planned changes to schemes and regulations. This proportion is no change from 58% in April 2024 (see Figure 17). In October 2024, a further 33% of holdings are either very (1%) or somewhat (32%) confident in Defra and Defra agency’s ability to deliver planned changes to schemes. Farmers on the remaining 10% of holdings are unsure.

Figure 17: Proportion of holdings that are confident in Defra and Defra agency’s abilities to work together to deliver changes to schemes and regulations, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

The October 2024 survey showed that as part of delivering the changes, farmers on 46% of holdings are not at all confident that their relationship with Defra and Defra agencies (such as the Rural Payments Agency and Natural England) will develop positively in the future. This proportion is little changed from 45% in April 2024. In October 2024, approximately 38% of holdings are either very (2%) or somewhat (36%) confident that their relationship with Defra will develop positively in the future. Farmers on the remaining 16% of holdings said that they were unsure (see Figure 18).

Figure 18: Proportion of holdings that believe their relationship with Defra and Defra agencies will develop positively in the future, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

In October 2024, when asked to consider the changes to existing payments and regulations as well as the new schemes that will be available, farmers on 25% of holdings feel either very (1%) or somewhat (24%) positive about the future of farming (see Figure 19). This is a decrease from 35% in April 2024 (very positive 3%; somewhat positive 32%). In October 2024, farmers on 66% of all holdings are not at all positive about the future of farming and the remaining 9% are unsure.

Figure 19: Proportion of holdings that feel positive about the future of farming, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

In October 2024, farmers on 35% of holdings felt positive about their own future in farming (very positive 5%; somewhat positive 30%). This is little change from 40% in April 2024. In October 2024, approximately 56% indicated that they are not at all positive and the remaining 9% are unsure how they feel about their own future in farming (see Figure 20).

Figure 20: Proportion of holdings that feel positive about their own future in farming, April 2023 to October 2024

Download the data for this chart

Section 2 - Open Text Comments

440 out of the 1,585 respondents provided a comment. Below is a summary of the comments, focusing on those relevant to Defra and the Agricultural Transition.

Negative sentiment around business viability was the most frequently occurring theme in the comments. This was part of a cross-cutting theme related to measures included in the Autumn 2024 Budget such as changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR), increased rate of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) removal, increased National Insurance contributions for employers, and an increase in the national minimum wage. This was in the context of a sector that felt there were many existing challenges such as low output prices, competition from imports, and adverse weather.

It should be noted that people with strong views are more likely to comment. This can result in negative comments appearing more prevalent than might be the case i.e., respondents who are relatively content are less likely to provide comments. The survey was open for a set period and the comments reflect issues that are particularly salient at the time of completing the survey. Potential salience bias may impact on responses, with those issues that received significant media attention attracting more references and respondents being less likely to comment in detail on issues that were less salient but nonetheless important. It also means that policy updates made since the survey period will not have been accounted for in responses. The survey was open for responses during the period immediately before and after the Autumn 2024 Budget when there was significant media attention on the impacts on farmers.

2.1 High level vision and clarity of future direction

There were a couple of comments that were supportive of Defra’s farming vision and the future of farming in general, for example supporting a positive agenda of habitat creation and the need to maintain and enhance the new schemes that have been delivered, as well as supporting the view that “profitable, sustainable businesses” are key to delivering public goods.

There were a larger number of negative comments about Defra’s farming vision. A few stated that that the vision for farming should be about food production, with a desire to see more focus on home food production. There was a range of sentiment around agricultural support payments, with some believing that they distort the market and help poorly performing businesses, and others believing they should be more focused on productivity.

A number of respondents were concerned about a lack of “clarity over the future of support” leading to a feeling of a lack of certainty over their future business decisions. Discussion of the Autumn 2024 Budget was a cross-cutting theme that was mentioned in many comments alongside other points made by respondents. The majority of sentiment was negative, with a feeling that there was no support for farming.

2.2 Food security, production, and imports

As with past trackers, a large number of respondents discussed UK food security. The sentiment regarding food security was generally negative, with some concerned that too much land is being taken out of production for environmental schemes, and that family farms were more likely to be sold off for non-food producing endeavours as a result of APR changes.

Others felt that there is an overreliance on imported food. There was concern from some that relying on imports is shifting negative environmental impacts elsewhere, rather than truly solving the issue. There was also concern that imports were not seen as a reliable food source, and that they could easily be disrupted, for example, by conflicts or trade disputes. There was an inference from some that food security should be prioritised above the environment, and whilst some felt that there must be balance between production and the environment, there was a general feeling that the balance is too far in favour of the environment. A couple of responses linked the challenges in growing food to climate change but did not make a connection with environmental schemes as an attempt to mitigate this challenge.

Within the context of international trade and imports, some responses touched on the theme of the competitiveness of British farming on the international stage with some discussion of the difficulty for farmers due to the scale, nature and standards of farming elsewhere making it hard to compete. Many respondents made comments regarding regulations and standards placed upon imported food. Most perceived imports to be produced at a lower standard, which they suggested gave foreign competitors an unfair advantage in the market. They called for parity in the application of regulations and standards.

2.3 Business viability

Business viability came up as an issue for a large number of respondents with several sub-themes. Some respondents explicitly blamed government policy as a barrier to farm viability. There was a belief that the changes to APR and accelerated BPS withdrawal, as well as increased National Insurance contributions and minimum wage, would have a negative impact on farming. There was also a feeling that these changes were not expected pre-budget, causing a shock to the sector. A few felt that re-investing in their business was being disincentivised by the changes to APR as it would be subject to inheritance tax. Others pointed out that, as an industry, famers tend to be “asset rich whilst being cash poor”. They believed that this meant that whilst they had wealth in assets, they would not be able to cover taxes without selling parts or all of their businesses, leading to them becoming unviable for the next generation.

The ability to make a profit was highlighted as a key component of business viability. Low output prices were seen as reducing the ability to make a profit, combined with high input and labour costs. The lack of control farmers have in price setting was also discussed as a difficulty in remaining profitable. A few comments mentioned rising input costs as an issue for farm businesses.

A few said that farmers will adapt to these challenges and survive, but they may do so by exiting food production as a business, to pursue diversified incomes and environmental scheme payments. It should be noted that although comments indicated that scheme payments may be helpful from a business viability perspective, there was an inference from some that, given the choice, they would rather produce food profitably than enrol in schemes.

The importance of diversification was discussed as a way of increasing business resilience in a changing sector. That said, there was a sense that although diversification can, or must, be undertaken to help a farm survive, this is not a desirable or fair situation.

2.4 Specific farm types

Some comments referred to specific types of farms and the challenges they face. These included small farms, tenant farms, livestock and dairy farms, and farms on less favourable land. The majority of these comments referred to small family farms. Some felt that small family farms would be particularly badly affected by changes to APR and accelerated BPS withdrawal in the Autumn 2024 Budget. Several felt that many new grants and schemes are geared towards larger farms with a need for greater support for small family farms, whom they believe tend to farm in a more environmentally friendly way.

A couple of respondents worried that tenant farmers were being evicted by landowners for more lucrative ELM schemes, or other non-farming diversification such as solar farms.

A few respondents felt that the new schemes such as SFI are not appropriate for hill farms, and that Defra schemes need to be more flexible in their approach to hill farmers. A small number felt that dairy farmers could not produce profitably using the low input systems being encouraged by Defra schemes or that new schemes are for arable farmers and not livestock or dairy.

2.5 Environmental Land Management schemes

As with previous trackers, many respondents left comments relating to ELMs and other new schemes. These covered a number of topics such as payment rates, scheme complexity, and the aims of ELM schemes.

There were a few positive comments, for example, agreeing with the idea farmers being paid for environmental actions, but felt that market forces meant that it was becoming harder to farm and therefore payment rates should increase.

There were a much larger proportion of comments that were negative about ELM schemes and grants. These fell into a number of sub-themes.

Some were concerned about ELM scheme administration and felt that there was not enough time to apply for schemes or enough communication about what would be happening for those whose schemes were coming to an end.

Others felt ELM schemes were too complicated, particularly for smaller farms. This included the application process for schemes, as well as the complexity of the specifications for schemes themselves. The administration for the farmer of having multiple overlapping schemes was also seen as very complicated.

Some comments suggested that payments were too low and did not offer enough of a reward. This was stated as an issue for those taking land out of production and therefore seeing a drop in overall profits, as well as an issue for those having to make an initial investment to be eligible for an environmental scheme.

A number of respondents were unhappy with the aims of the schemes themselves. For many the issue was that they believed schemes would encourage them to take land out of production, which they saw as a negative thing to be doing as it would adversely affect national food security.

2.6 Working with Defra

A large number of comments related to Defra and Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). As with other topics, the issue of APR changes was present in some of these comments. Some felt generally unvalued and unsupported as a sector by Defra and the Government. A few said that Defra had done good work to build a strong relationship with farmers over the past 5 years but felt that APR changes risked damaging the work done and eroding trust.

Others were more general in their criticism, feeling Defra and the government do not have the expertise to make decisions about farming. For example, believing that future food security is at risk due to encouragement to take land out of production for environmental benefits.

A few comments mentioned ALBs with some negative sentiment, citing reasons such as disagreeing with their strategies, the number or lack of flexibility in the rules, and that regulations are too complex to easily understand.

What’s Different Now? (Comparison to previous results)

A higher proportion of respondents chose to provide comments compared to the previous survey, with the total number of responses (and comments) also being higher. There were some notable differences to previous trackers.

In the past, the majority of comments tended to be around food security or ELM schemes. Whilst these were both still prominent themes in October 2024, most comments related to business viability, farmers’ relationship with Defra, and the new government and the Autumn 2024 Budget. Whilst these are distinct categories, they were often linked, with a large proportion of respondents dissatisfied with the changes to APR and BPS withdrawal which had led them to be concerned about their long-term business viability. This survey was live at the time of the Autumn 2024 Budget, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it featured heavily in respondent comments.

There has been an ongoing trend of fewer comments referring to a lack of information on new schemes between trackers, with the trend continuing during this survey period between late October and early December 2024. However, there was some concern over the future certainty of funding for schemes and capital grants. For some there was a desire to see an end to ongoing changes made to schemes so they could plan their businesses for the future.

Input costs were mentioned by a few respondents but have continued to drop in the number of mentions compared to past trackers. Where they were mentioned, it tended to be alongside multiple other factors such as low output prices, competition from imports, challenging weather, reductions in BPS, and rising labour costs; painting an overall picture of a difficult industry in which to thrive.

Since the tracker recorded these results, Defra have provided more information on strategic policy direction. For example, the Secretary of State outlined the government’s “New Deal for farming” and commitment to food security at the Oxford Farming Conference. The Defra farming blog Farming (blog.gov.uk) also contains information on the continued roll out of SFI and CS options, as well as capital grants and flood recovery.

Section 3 - What you need to know about this release

3.1 Contact details

Statistics

Responsible statistician: Charlotte McGinty

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

Email address: Farming-Statistics@defra.gov.uk

Telephone: 03000 600170

Social Research

Responsible social researcher: Peter Smith

Team: Future Farming Insights and Evaluation - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Email: Farming.Research@defra.gov.uk

3.2 Official statistics status

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You can read about how Official Statistics in Defra comply with these standards on the Defra Statistics website.

Section 4 - About these statistics

4.1 Methodology

The Farmer Opinion Tracker provides a snapshot of views and opinions towards Defra’s vision for farming as at October 2024. Farmers were asked questions about Defra’s vision for farming, business planning, relationships with farming organisations and Defra and the future of farming.

The survey was open for responses during the period immediately before and after the Autumn 2024 Budget when there was significant media attention on the impacts on farmers.

The results provided in this report are based on surveys sent to a representative sub-sample of the farming community in England, approximately 6,000 holdings. The survey was voluntary and 1,585 responses were received (including some partial responses), resulting in a response rate of around 26%.

To be included in the main sample, holdings had to have at least 50 cattle, 100 sheep, 100 pigs, 1,000 poultry or 20 hectares of arable crops or orchards. Therefore, all results given in this statistical report reflect just over 60 thousand holdings that exceed these thresholds out of the total English population of almost 107 thousand commercial holdings.

4.2 Data analysis

Results have been analysed using a standard methodology for stratified random surveys to produce national estimates. With this method, all of the data are weighted according to the inverse sampling fraction.

4.3 Accuracy and reliability of the results

We show 95% confidence intervals against the results for this survey (statistical release and time series). These show the range of values that may apply to the figures. They mean that we are 95% confident that this range contains the true value. They are calculated as the standard errors (se) multiplied by 1.96 to give the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The standard errors only give an indication of the sampling error. They do not reflect any other sources of survey errors, such as non-response bias.

4.4 Uses and Users

The survey was set up to collect farmer opinion on the future for farming in England prior to, and during, the Agricultural Transition. The aim is to be open and transparent about what we are hearing from the farming community and then acknowledge and respond to areas where we need to improve. The data collected via this survey will be used to create a baseline dataset of farmer opinion which can then be monitored over time to see how it is changing as we move through the agricultural transition period.

4.5 Definitions

Region

This refers to the ITL1 regions in England, for the purposes of this analysis we have combined the South East with London.

Farm type

This refers to the “robust type”, which is a standardised farm classification system. Farms are split into Dairy, Grazing Livestock Less Favoured Areas (LFA), Grazing Livestock Lowland, Mixed, Other crops, Cereals and Pigs & Poultry (Specialist Pigs and Specialist Poultry combined).

Farm sizes

This is based on the estimated labour requirements for the holding, rather than its land area. The farm size bands used within the detailed results tables which accompany this publication are shown in the table below. Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) is defined as the theoretical number of workers required each year to run a holding, based on its cropping and livestock activities.

Farm size	Definition
Small	Less than 2 SLR
Medium	2 to less than 3 SLR
Large	3 or more SLR

Farm ownership

This is based on data from the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture. The types are split into:

• Owned - all area on the holding is owned
• Tenanted - All area on the holding is rented under a Full Agricultural Tenancy, Full Business Tenancy, Other agreement or is seasonally rented in (364 days or less)
• Mixed - area on the holding is a mixture of owned and tenanted

4.6 Future publications

The Farmer Opinion Survey for England was first run in Autumn 2019. The survey was set up to collect opinion prior to, and during, the agricultural transition which is the period of the Future Farming and Countryside Programme. Therefore, it is expected the survey will run every 6 months until 2028. Please note, only one survey was run in 2020 as Covid disrupted data collection.

The next survey will be run in Spring 2025. The publication date will be announced on the research and statistics webpage on gov.uk.

To view previous statistical releases and the full breakdown of results, please visit the Farm Opinion Tracker collection.