British farmers lag behind in productivity

British farmers are eclipsed by farmers from the Netherlands and the United States (US) in terms of productivity. The AHDB makes this known in the latest Horizon report, published on Wednesday, January 3. 

Improving the productivity of the agricultural sector in the United Kingdom (UK) has thus become one of the biggest challenges of our time, the report says. The sector needs to become more productive to remain competitive after Brexit and to raise environmental standards.

Productivity Gap
The report shows that countries such as the Netherlands and the US are increasing their productivity 3 times faster than the UK. The British showed an annual production growth of 0,9%, while the other 2 countries showed growth of 3,5% and 3,2% respectively. This has led to a production gap, worth more than £4,3 billion between 2000 and 2013.

Two factors
The Horizon report shows that there are 2 factors holding the UK back from improving agricultural productivity. The first reason is related to research on this topic. Over the past few years, £490 million has been spent on research into improving productivity, but these results appear to be more out of the blue than market research, the report says.

The second reason for the backwardness of British farmers is a lack of skills. British farmers and growers invest too little in their skills compared to other countries (such as the US and the Netherlands).

five point plan
The AHDB has drawn up a five-point plan. According to Tom Hind, chief strategy officer at AHDB, productivity in the UK can be increased if industry, academia and education providers join forces. “Increasing productivity is critical as it plays an important role in the country's competitiveness,” Hind said.

In addition, according to the report, one should increase productivity as it is important in overcoming environmental challenges. "Productivity and environmental responsibility go hand in hand," Hind claims. This concerns, for example, precision agriculture and soil management.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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