Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture, 2016

A National Statistics publication for Scotland

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Designation can be interpreted to mean that the statistics: meet identified user needs; are produced, managed and disseminated to high standards; and are explained well.

Correspondence and enquiries

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Neil White,
RESAS, Q Spur, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh. EH11 3XD
Telephone: 0300 244 9715,
email: agric.stats@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician,
telephone: 0131 244 0442,
email: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this statistical publication:

☐ are available in more detail through Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics

☐ are available via an alternative route

☒ may be made available on request, subject to consideration of legal and ethical factors. Please contact agric.stats@gov.scot for further information.

☐ cannot be made available by Scottish Government for further analysis as Scottish Government is not the data controller.

Complaints and suggestions

If you are not satisfied with our service or have any comments or suggestions, please write to the Chief Statistician, 3WR, St Andrews House, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG, Telephone: (0131) 244 0302, email: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot.

If you would like to be consulted about statistical collections or receive notification of publications, please register your interest at www.gov.scot/scotstat

Details of forthcoming publications can be found at www.gov.scot/statistics

Crown Copyright

You may use or re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. See: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/

This is the 2016 edition of the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture ( ERSA) which has been compiled by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services division ( RESAS) in the Scottish Government ( SG). It presents an overall picture of Scottish agriculture using data from the various agricultural surveys that RESAS manages.

The format of ERSA brings together related information to create a thematic structure. It gives a geographic and financial overview of the industry, followed by chapters on each of the sectors, labour figures and UK comparisons. The various sections bring together the information on related subjects from three sets of data

• 2015 June Census and December surveys of farms,
• the Farm Accounts Survey 2014-15 - which collects statistics from the business accounts of around 500 farms in Scotland,
• Total Income from Farming 2014 and 2015 - estimates of the output values and associated input costs of Scottish agriculture which underpin the Scottish Agricultural Account, submitted to the EC every year.

For ease of use by those familiar with previous editions, the statistical tables have remained relatively unchanged since last year and where possible retain their numbering. More extensive versions of tables in the publication ( i.e. containing more years) are available in spreadsheet format from the following link: www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Agriculture-Fisheries/PubEconomicReport

This year we have three annexes to the publication. As well as the Statistics at a Glance back-page, we have a summary of some of the research projects funded by RESAS, and also an historical look at price-fixing in the 1950s.

We hope that you find the format of this publication helpful. We are always happy to hear your views on any of our statistics and publications - if you want to contact us, our details are above.

We would also like to thank Scottish farmers for their continuing cooperation with all of our data collections.

Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services ( RESAS)
Scottish Government
June 2016

email: agric.stats@gov.scot

web: www.gov.scot/agricstats

twitter: @SGRESAS