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Published: August 2026

The Farm Business Survey
Through the Decades

1930s –

Foundations

1936: The Farm Management Survey is established.

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Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1950s –

Change and Modernisation

Mechanisation transforms how British farms operate.

Click for Detail
Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1970s –

New Era of Support

1973: UK agriculture enters the Common Agricultural Policy.

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1990s –

Challenges and Change

FBS data helps measure a decade of major industry change.

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Copyright Natural England/Paul Glendell

2010s –

Adaptation and Transition

FBS helps inform the design of post-EU agricultural policy.

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Credit: © Natural England/Peter Roworth

Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1940s –

War and Recovery

Survey evidence helps shape post-war agricultural policy.

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Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1960s –

Growth and Change

Government support accounts for almost half of Net Farm Income.

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1980s –

Reform and Expansion

1986: The modern Farm Business Survey is born.

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Copyright Natural England/Chris Gomersall

2000s –

Data and Diversification

Farm Business Income becomes the headline measure.

Click for Detail

Credit: © Natural England/Peter Roworth

2020s –

Future Focus

90 years of evidence supporting farming and agricultural policy.

Click for Detail

Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1930s –

Foundations

1936: The Farm Management Survey is established.

Click for Detail

Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1940s –

War and Recovery

Survey evidence helps shape post-war agricultural policy.

Click for Detail

Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1950s –

Change and Modernisation

Mechanisation transforms how British farms operate.

Click for Detail

Image courtesy of the Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading

1960s –

Growth and Change

Government support accounts for almost half of Net Farm Income.

Click for Detail

1970s –

New Era of Support

1973: UK agriculture enters the Common Agricultural Policy.

Click for Detail

1980s –

Reform and Expansion

1986: The modern Farm Business Survey is born.

Click for Detail

Copyright Natural England/Chris Gomersall

1990s –

Challenges and Change

FBS data helps measure a decade of major industry change.

Click for Detail

Copyright Natural England/Paul Glendell

2000s –

Data and Diversification

Farm Business Income becomes the headline measure.

Click for Detail

Credit: © Natural England/Peter Roworth

2010s –

Adaptation and Transition

FBS helps inform the design of post-EU agricultural policy.

Click for Detail

Credit: © Natural England/Peter Roworth

2020s –

Future Focus

90 years of evidence supporting farming and agricultural policy.

Click for Detail

90 Years of Data.
One Future for Agriculture in England

From handwritten field books to digital data, 

the Farm Business Survey has evolved with farming.

1930s –

Foundations

  • The Great Depression saw agricultural prices fall and food imports increase.
  • Agricultural Marketing Acts established producer boards to help stabilise markets and prices for commodities including milk, potatoes, hops and bacon pigs.
  • Government intervention expanded through fixed wheat prices and support for cattle, sugar and sugar beet:
    • The 1932 Wheat Act introduced a fixed price for wheat producers.
    • In 1934 a subsidy for fat cattle was introduced and imports of store and fat cattle were restricted.
    • In 1936 the British Sugar Corporation was established and the subsidy on sugar beet was made permanent.
  • In 1936, the Farm Management Survey (FMS) was established to systematically collect information about the economic condition of farming and farmers’ intentions.
  • The FMS was financed by the Treasury, covered England and Wales, and was run by the Agricultural Economics Research Institute Oxford.
  • Early survey field books were handwritten, with flexible layouts and detailed annotations.

1940s –

War and Recovery

  • The Second World War brought guaranteed markets, government intervention and increased mechanisation as farmers were urged to increase domestic food production.
  • The “Dig for Victory” campaign supported greater self-sufficiency, while food rationing was introduced to manage shortages caused by reduced imports.
  • Farm Management Survey (FMS) evidence showed farm incomes initially improving during the early war years as production increased:
    • Average Net Farm Income for England and Wales peaked in 1941/42 at £1,100 per farm (equivalent to around £59,100 today).
    • The emphasis on increased output, particularly for crops, meant the most substantial rises in income were seen on arable farms.
    • By 1947/48, Net Farm Income had fallen to £500 per farm (equivalent to around £22,100 today).
  • The FMS shows the increasing importance of mechanisation during the decade, with machinery purchases rising from an average of £76 per 100 acres (around 40 hectares) in 1944/45 to £175 in 1947/48. Today, this would be equivalent to purchases at £89 per hectare rising in real terms to £180 per hectare.
  • Post-war farm incomes fell considerably compared to the early part of the decade and average Net Farm Income was £500 by 1947/48 (around £22,100 today), with 20% of farms experiencing losses.
  • The 1947 Agriculture Act established the basis of post-war agricultural policy, with guaranteed prices and deficiency payments informed by survey evidence.
  • After the war, the survey moved from handwritten field books to printed forms with defined sections.

1950s –

Change and Modernisation

  • Rapid mechanisation transformed farming and led to a significant decline in the use of working horses.
  • Production systems evolved and changed, with innovations including the start of indoor broiler production.
  • Food rationing finally ended in 1954, 14 years after it had been introduced.
  • For the average size farm, Net Farm Income was £1,100 at the start of the decade (equivalent to around £42,800 today) and rose to around £1,700 (£50,600 today) by 1957/58.
    • The income figures shown relate to the average size farm at the time (rather than all farms) and represent farms of between 60 and 121 hectares.
  • The 1957 Agriculture Act sought to stabilise farm incomes, guarantee markets and support the modernisation of British agriculture.
  • The Treaty of Rome, signed by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, established the European Economic Community in 1957, beginning an organisation that would later reshape UK agricultural policy.

1960s –

Growth and Change

  • Farm Management Survey data showed that domestic grants and deficiency payments formed a substantial part of farm income.
  • In 1964/65 and 1968/69, grants and deficiency payments represented approximately 50% and 45% of Net Farm Income respectively.
  • For the average size farm, Net Farm Income rose from £1,600 in 1960/61 (equivalent to around £46,300 today) to £2,500 in 1969/70 (£47,100 today).
    • The income figures shown relate to the average size farm at the time (rather than all farms) and represent farms of between 60 and 121 hectares.
  • The Small Farm Scheme encouraged the restructuring and consolidation of smaller agricultural businesses.
  • The 1967 Agriculture Act established the Meat and Livestock Commission to improve efficiency and competitiveness.
  • 1967 also saw the worst outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease of the 20th century, leading to thousands of animals in England and Wales being culled.

1970s –

New Era of Support

  • The decade was marked by fuel shortages and price increases, as well as wider economic uncertainty.
  • In 1973, the UK joined the European Economic Community and adopted the Common Agricultural Policy, replacing domestic deficiency payments with European prices and subsidies.
  • CAP support encouraged higher agricultural production and helped boost overall farm incomes.
  • For cropping farms, Net Farm Income increased steadily in middle years of the decade reaching £15,900 in 1976/77 (equivalent to about £128,900 today).
  • For livestock farms, the available data shows the average reaching its highest level of £8,900 in 1977/78 (around £73,100 today). However, data is not currently available for the years 1978/79 to 1979/80.
  • From 1978, Farm Management Survey data was used to meet European Farm Accountancy Data Network reporting requirements.
  • Farms were reclassified by type and size using a European system based on Standard Gross Margins.

1980s –

Reform and Expansion

  • CAP support contributed to significant overproduction in Europe, creating over supply for certain commodities such as the so-called “butter mountains” and “wine lakes”.
  • Milk quotas were introduced in 1984 in an effort to reduce overproduction.
  • The first UK cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) were confirmed in cattle during the middle of the decade, leading to a ban on the human consumption of offal.
  • In 1986, the Farm Management Survey became the Farm Business Survey.
  • The Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme was launched in 1987.
  • In a move to manage over supply, the European Union introduced “set-aside land” policies in 1988, requiring farmers to take a portion of their arable land out of production.
  • By the end of the decade average Net Farm Income was £17,500 (equivalent to around £45,500 today).
  • Farm Management Survey returns became increasingly structured and coded as the survey moved towards machine processing

1990s –

Challenges and Change

  • Countryside Stewardship was introduced in England in 1991.
  • The 1992 MacSharry Reform moved CAP support away from guaranteed prices and towards direct income payments.
  • The BSE epidemic peaked in 1992/93, with approximately 100,000 confirmed cattle cases.
  • In 1996, the EU banned UK beef exports following the link between BSE and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.
  • FBS evidence supported specialist studies examining cereal production, hill farming profitability and the effects of major policy changes.
  • The decade saw substantial variation in Net Farm Income with average levels across all farm types ranging between £38,000 in 1995/96 (around £77,600 at today’s prices) and £8,500 in 1999/00, which translates to around £16,300 today.

2000s –

Data and Diversification

  • The 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak had a major effect on farming businesses and the reporting of farm incomes.
  • Average Net Farm Income in 2000/01, excluding farms subject to a FMD cull, was £10,500 (equivalent to £20,000 today).
  • In 2004/05, Farm Business Income replaced Net Farm Income as the survey’s headline measure and incorporated income from diversification.
  • CAP reforms increasingly separated agricultural support from production and placed greater emphasis on environmental outcomes, food safety and animal welfare. The Single Payment Scheme came into effect in 2005, with support increasingly based on land area rather than production.
  • FBS data supported assessments of policy reform including bovine TB, changing input costs and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis.

2010s –

Adaptation and Transition

  • Increased use of GPS in agriculture, precision farming, variable-rate technology, robotics, drones and early artificial intelligence.
  • In 2010/11, the average Farm Business Income in England was £57,000 (equivalent to around £85,600 today) and this was followed by another strong year in 2011/12. In real terms, these levels of income were not seen again for the rest of the decade.
  • Renewable energy became an additional opportunity for some farms following the introduction of the Feed-in Tariff.
  • New CAP Greening requirements increased the focus on environmental management.
  • FBS modules provided evidence for assessing environmental measures and informing long-term food and farming policy.
  • Following the 2016 EU referendum, FBS evidence became central to the development of domestic agricultural policy.

2020s –

Future Focus

  • The Agriculture Act 2020 began England’s transition away from CAP direct payments towards domestic agricultural policy.
  • Global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused average Farm Business Income to be very volatile in the first half of the decade:
    • The annual average jumped from £51,900 at the start of the decade (£63,100 in today’s prices) to over £100,000 in real terms in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
    • The average fell by around half in 2023/24 but then increased again in 2024/25 to £71,200.
  • FBS evidence supported analysis on the effects of removing direct payments and enabled the monitoring and evaluation of new domestic schemes and grants in England.
  • During COVID-19 pandemic, FBS data helped assess the impact on farming sectors and informed targeted support measures such as the Dairy Response Fund.
  • Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, FBS evidence helped government understand the effects of rising energy, fertiliser and other input costs.
  • Environmental Land Management payments began, rewarding public goods including biodiversity, soil health, carbon management and water quality.
  • The Farming Profitability Unit drew extensively on FBS data with information from the survey included in the 2025 Farming Profitability Review publication.
  • In early 2026, FBS data provided key baseline evidence on farm fuel and fertiliser costs during the war in the Middle East.
  • In 2026, FBS celebrates 90 years of providing evidence and insight into farming in England.