Rural Business
Farm Management Handbook 2025/26
The 45th edition of the Farm Management Handbook is an essential tool for any progressive farm business, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date source of information for farmers, crofters, rural professionals, students and consultants. A printed edition is also available at a cost of £34.00 plus postage and packaging. To order, or for more information, email…
Business and Policy August 2025 – Sector Focus: Thinking of Selling your Farm? What you Need to Know
For whatever the reason, if you have found yourself in a position of looking to sell your farm, it is not quite as straight –forward as giving the sales agent a call and popping it on the market. In order to make it as smooth a process as possible, there is quite a bit of…
Benchmarking Matters – What, Why, How?
Amid the daily challenges of owning and managing a farm business, you could be sitting on untapped profit that can be found by looking at your farm accounts information. The method for uncovering these opportunities is benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process of comparing your farm’s financial performance against: Industry standards. Businesses similar in size and…
Business and Policy June 2025 – Sector Focus: Diversification
Diversification continues to strengthen farm business profitability The Scottish Government has recently published the Scottish Farm Business Income: Annual Estimates for 2023-2024 which gives valuable insights into the profitability of Scottish agriculture, and the important role that diversification can play with regards farm and croft profitability. Farm incomes declined in 2023-24, after record highs in…
Rural Roundup – AECS & Water Scarcity
Welcome back to the Rural Round-up. On today’s episode George Chalmers & Tiffany Stephenson talk about the upcoming AECS deadline and the pressing issue of water scarcity. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. FAS Resources Water Scarcity – Farming and Water Scotland Events | Events helping farmers in Scotland | Farm…
Business and Policy May 2025 – Sector Focus: US Tariffs
Recent events On the 2nd April, Donald Trump, the US president, announced a new tariff regime on imports to the US, including a baseline 10% on almost all foreign imports, with some countries and goods facing higher rates. The schedule proposed a 20% tariff on EU imports, 25% from Canada and Mexico, and currently 145%…
Profit Snapshot 2023 – 2024: How does your Farm Business Measure Up?
Every year the Scottish Farm Business Survey produces national group average datasets from 400 Scottish farms for you to benchmark your business against to assess your farm business performance. Take these steps for quick comparison: Visit the Whole Farm Benchmarks Tool 2023-2024 Choose your farm type on the left from the drop down box. Dig…
Agribusiness News April 2025 – Sheep
Ramadan Progresses Ramadan ended on the 30th March, with Eid al-Fitr being celebrated the following day to mark the end of the fast. For this celebration, Muslim families tend to visit friends and family to celebrate the end of fasting and invest in large quantities of meat a few days before this. Typically, we see…
Agribusiness News April 2025 – Cereals And Oilseeds
Global Markets Spring weather risks remain a significant influence on global grain markets. As fieldwork advances across the Northern Hemisphere, weather patterns will play an increasingly vital role. In Brazil, April rainfall will be a decisive factor in determining the yield potential of the second corn crop. Elsewhere, the threat of drought or late frost…
Agribusiness News April 2025 – Policy Brief
Future Farming Investment Scheme The Scottish Government have recently announced their intention to introduce a Future Farming Investment Scheme with an estimated funding budget of ~ £14 million. The aim of the new grant scheme will be to provide flexible capital grants to drive efficiency and to support nature and climate friendly farming practices. Further…