Meanwhile, according to 2021 Office of National Statistics (ONS) numbers, 97.2% of people employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing are white, making farming the least diverse job sector in the UK. And the lack of diversity doesn't stop at ethnicity.
And people identifying as more than one race make up 10.2% of the population but only 0.9% of farmers. Meanwhile, white people — who make up only 61.6% of the population — are 95.4% of farmers.
Government data about the UK's different ethnic groups. 82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data).
What are we supposed to make of the latest announcement from Britain's biggest farmer, Dyson Farming Limited, that in the year to 31 December 2023, the company increased its profit from the previous year by £520,000 to £5.2m?
Overall the average annual salary for people who work on farms is £25,578 – close to the national UK figure of £26,500. More than 30% earned between £20,000 and £30,000, but more than one in 10 (13%) reported they earned less than £10,000, which suggests they were either part-time or working as family labour.
The least diverse job sector in UK - and what's being done to change it
Do farmers pay income tax in the UK?
Provided certain conditions are met, a special relief is available to farmers and market gardeners under which they can claim to add together their profits from farming or market gardening for 2 years or 5 years and be taxable on the average of those profits.
On average farmers work a 65-hour week – far exceeding the UK national average of 37 hours. Some growers and livestock producers work in excess of 100 hours, according to the study – with many rarely taking a day off, let alone an annual holiday.
According to the Cato Institute, farmers of corn, soybeans, and wheat receive more than 70% of farm subsidies. These are also usually the largest farms.
The government (together with its QUANGOs) is the biggest land owner by area, the Forestry Commission owning some 2,200,000 acres (890,000 ha), the MoD 1,101,851 acres (445,903 ha), the Crown Estate 678,420 acres (274,550 ha), DEFRA 116,309 acres (47,069 ha) and Homes England 19,349 acres (7,830 ha).
Qin Yinglin (Chinese: 秦英林; pinyin: Qín Yīnglín, born 1965) is a Chinese agriculture tycoon, billionaire, Communist Party member, and the world's richest farmer. He is the Chair and president of the pig farming company Muyuan Foodstuff and is one of the richest people in China. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, ...
But, here's the curious thing, you will seldom hear farmers dividing themselves up by reference to class. We're all sort of upper/lower middling middle class. We're not nobs but we're not riff raff either. You won't find many of us at the ballet or the bingo.
The average age of all U.S. farm producers in 2022 was 58.1 years, up 0.6 years from 2017, continuing a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population. Producers also tend to be experienced; they have been farming an average of 23.4 years.
You'll usually need: some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship. 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship.
It aims to enhance 'arable', 'horticultural' and 'improved grassland' soil health. In comparison farmers received approximately £238 per Ha (£95 per acre) through the BPS; the payments for the SFI can range from £22 per Ha (£9 per acre) to £40 per Ha (£15 per acre).
Feed, at $80 billion, was the largest expense item, accounting for 16.6% of farm expenditures. Livestock/poultry/related expenses (up $10.7 billion), labor (up $6.4 billion), as well as farm services (up $5.3 billion), were the three categories with the largest increases between 2022 and 2023.
Which country gives the most subsidies to farmers?
As incomes grew and the population on farms dwindled in such countries as South Korea and Taiwan, those countries' governments shifted from penalizing farmers to subsidizing them and protecting them from imports. These countries, along with Japan, now have among the highest subsidy and protection rates in the world.
Key skills required for farmers include physical fitness, leadership, organisation, communication, and flexibility; these can be cultivated through hands-on experience or formal qualifications in agriculture.
Dairy farmers have warned that a long-running shortage of workers, exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic, has put the UK's food security under pressure.