May 24, 2012

 

UK agricultural industry profits up 25% in 2011

 

 

Figures show that UK's agricultural industry was profitable in 2011 at GBP8.84 billion (US$13.87 billion), up GBP1.75 billion (US$2.7 billion) or 25%, on the previous year, according to the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

 

Exports of beef, lamb and pork to the emerging middle-classes in Asia have fuelled a growth in farming by one-quarter, a West Country MP has said. Food exports grew by 11% last year, which makes food and drink the fourth largest export sector for the UK, according to the representative body.

 

Former farmer Neil Parish, Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said the appetite for British produce is growing in Asia and other emerging economic powers. But he sounded a note of caution over the current state of the dairy industry, which has been battered by tumbling prices in recent weeks.

 

The West Country has particularly strong beef, lamb and poultry and dairy sectors.

 

Parish, who sits on the cross-party rural affairs select committee, said: "The figures show that the beef and lamb sector has done a lot of exporting, creating a lot of income for the country and jobs. And that's what we need to be doing to help the dairy sector: more exports. We need to be exporting our way out of the recession and into growth, and the farming and food sector is doing its bit."

 

Employment has also been growing in the agricultural sector. According to the most recent figures, agriculture employed 303,000 people in 2011, up 3% on 2010.

 

The NFU uses gross value added (GVA) to measure farming's contribution to the economy. GVA is the value of goods and services produced by a sector minus the raw materials and other inputs used to produce them.

 

The report was published to coincide with the launch of an NFU campaign called "Farming Delivers for Britain" in London. The body wants consumers to buy British food and remember farming's immensely powerful role in securing the nation's future.

 

NFU President Peter Kendall said farming was a sector that was seen as being in terminal decline and is now one "that is now delivering for Britain".

 

He said: "No-one now seriously doubts the need for this country to have an efficient, productive, environmentally-conscious British farming sector, or the value that it, and we as farmers and growers, can deliver on all fronts." The Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs recently published its food exports action plan to help Britain's farming, food and drink industry take advantage of the great potential offered by China.

 

Farming Minister Jim Paice is in the Far East and last week announced a landmark GBP50 million (US$78 million) pork agreement with the Chinese government.

 

Meanwhile, Authorities in the UAE have lifted a ban on the import of British beef products. The move, with comes into force with immediate effect, follows the lifting of a similar ban on beef imports from Poland in September. "The lifting of the British beef ban is significant as it means greater opportunity for UK suppliers, but also greater choice for the UAE market," Ian Gibbons, director of UK Trade & Investment in Dubai said. Beef products including Angus steaks are expected to be stocked in restaurants and supermarkets shortly, he added. The UAE's Ministry of Environment and Water banned all beef imports from countries following reported cases of BSE, known as mad cow disease. The UAE imported GBP122.6 million (US$192 million) of British food products in 2011, up 12.6% from 2010.