Scottish farm incomes were slashed by 50% in the years between 2010 and 2014 despite more than £2 billion of agricultural support being ploughed into the industry.
Devastating Government statistics released on Tuesday showed that average farm business income (FBI) was down by £8,000, or 25%, between 2013 and 2014 to £23,000. This is the lowest level of FBI since the measure was introduced and 55% down from a peak in 2010 when incomes stood at £51,000.
For farmers the figures came as no surprise, and any hope the slide is bottoming out was dashed by a Government statement which indicated income figures may have worsened since 2014.
Provisional income estimates in January showed a £60 million decrease in income from the previous year followed by a £110m decline in 2015.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead insisted farmers needed a fairer share of the end product.
“Scotland’s farmers are the backbone of one of the country’s most successful sectors food and drink and yet they don’t appear to be reaping the rewards to the same degree as the rest of the supply chain, and that needs to change,” he said.
“If billions of pounds of farm support through the Common Agricultural Policy is failing to halt such a decline it is clear that Europe needs to place a greater focus on dysfunctional supply chains and markets.
“While the food and drink industry is booming, farmers are struggling.
“Low farmgate prices mean times are hard and that’s not right. Farmers should be getting a good price that reflects the quality of their produce.”
NFU Scotland said the problem was down to “costs, markets and support”.
Jonnie Hall, the union’s director of policy, said: “For the vast majority of businesses across almost all sectors these three are conspiring to drag incomes down.
“Continually rising input costs, both cost of production and compliance, and low and often volatile market returns have prolonged the cost-price squeeze that Scottish agriculture has faced for a number of years.”
Mr Hall said that in years gone by, direct support payments had gone a long way in plugging that gap, but that gap was now widening while support was reducing.
And he said: “This may yet be compounded further as the full extent of redistribution of CAP support reveals itself as we see the new area-based payments bed in.”
The largest drop in average income was seen in mixed farming enterprises where incomes were nearly two thirds less than the year before, while sheep farms in less favoured areas reported a 50% drop in incomes.
Dairy farm incomes in 2014 were down 14%, while general cropping and cereal farm incomes fell by 25% and 38% respectively.