Farm Business Survey

Statistical results from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) in Wales are produced and published annually by IBERS, under the direction of Mr Tony O'Regan and on behalf of the Welsh Government. The survey incorporates financial and physical data from a representative sample of around 600 farms in Wales and the results are presented as a series of tables, with introductory commentary.

Farms in the survey are classified by type and size and the results are expressed in terms of outputs, inputs and incomes; land utilisation; tenant's capital; performance indicators, such as average business size and standard man-day availability; various income measures, including net farm income; livestock numbers; and farm liabilities and assets by type of tenure. Inter-year comparisons for an identical sample of holdings participating in the FBS are also included, as are gross margins for the main enterprise types.

The results of the survey and associated special studies are intended to serve two purposes. Firstly, they provide regional, national and EU policy-makers and researchers with information on the economic conditions of different types and sizes of farms in Wales. Secondly, they provide farmers, farm advisers and others with comparative information essential for assessing the performance of individual farm units.

Copies of the survey results, and of special studies relating to particular aspects of farm businesses, are widely circulated.

 

Farming in Wales 1936 - 2011

The FBS has been researching Welsh farm incomes since before the Second World War and the year 2011/12 is the 75th Anniversary of the Survey. To mark the Anniversary the University has published a book written by former Aberystwyth University Professor and renowned local historian Richard Moore-Colyer. ‘Farming In Wales 1936 – 2011’ gives a fascinating insight into how farming and rural communities have changed during that time, through the eyes of some of the original Survey participants. Today little has changed as the book demonstrates by inviting the reader to share the memories and views of farming families who were visited as part of the very first Survey in 1936. Dai Llanilar Jones, the popular farmer and broadcaster said “Wales has a history punctuated by great people and traditions and for generations farmers have contributed to that history and it is imperative these contributions are recorded. This book will appeal to all and I hope that every farm, indeed every home in Wales will in time have a copy of ‘Farming in Wales 1936 – 2011’ to reflect upon.”

Copies of the book can be purchased by contacting us on 01970 622253 or emailing us on farmsurv@aber.ac.uk . Any profits from the celebratory events will be donated to the Wales Air Ambulance service.