UK farming covers 16.760 million hectares, supports hundreds of thousands of workers and produces billions of pounds of crops, livestock and dairy products. The latest figures also show a sector with fewer holdings, changing crop patterns, uneven farm incomes and significant environmental responsibilities. Most figures below are UK-wide and refer to 2024 unless another geography or period is stated.
Contents
- Agricultural footprint, holdings and workforce
- Crops, land use and arable output
- Livestock populations and meat production
- Farm income, productivity and labour economics
- Food production, prices and trade
- Environmental pressures and organic farming
Agricultural footprint, holdings and workforce
The UK utilised agricultural area was 16.760 million hectares in June 2024, equivalent to 69% of total UK land area. Permanent grassland covered 9.380 million hectares, including 3.511 million hectares of sole-right rough grazing. These figures show how strongly UK agriculture remains associated with grassland and livestock use, even as the croppable area changes.
The total croppable area was 6.167 million hectares in June 2024, 1.3% higher than in 2023. At the same time, the number of agricultural holdings was 209,000 in 2024, 4.2% fewer than in 2019. The average area of all holdings fell by 0.3% between 2019 and 2024, while the average croppable area rose by 3.0%. Those measures describe different aspects of farm structure: the average holding became slightly smaller overall, while the average area available for cropping increased.
Farm size is concentrated at the upper end. Holdings of at least 100 hectares represented about one-fifth of holdings but around three-quarters of total agricultural area in 2024. Holdings under 20 hectares made up most holdings, yet accounted for approximately 4.0% of total area. This contrast is important when interpreting averages: a typical holding by count is not representative of the area managed by the largest businesses.
The total agricultural workforce on UK commercial holdings was 453,000 people in June 2024, down 2.0% from 2023. The June structure and workforce figures are point-in-time estimates for commercial holdings, rather than a count of every person involved in agriculture over an entire year. The same source recorded a total female cattle breeding herd of 3.181 million head, comprising 1.344 million beef cows and 1.836 million dairy cows.
Source: Chapter 2: Structure of industry.
Crops, land use and arable output
Cereal crops occupied 2.966 million hectares in 2024, or 69% of the cropped area. Wheat covered 1.531 million hectares, down 11% from 2023 and the lowest area since 2020. Barley moved in the opposite direction: its area reached 1.194 million hectares, up 5.1% year on year.
The crop mix also included a much larger area of land that was not cropped. Uncropped arable land increased 98% to 616,000 hectares in 2024. Oilseed crops covered 317,000 hectares, down 24% from 2023, while potato area increased 3.1% to 118,000 hectares.
About 85% of UK utilised agricultural area was used to feed livestock in 2024. On croppable land, the comparable share was about 58%. The two percentages use different denominators, so they should not be treated as a direct like-for-like measure of the same land category.
UK cereal production was 19.441 million tonnes in 2024, down 12% from 2023, and had a production value of £3.510 billion. Wheat production fell 20% to just over 11.1 million tonnes, while its production value fell 27% to £2.2 billion. Spring barley provided a counterpoint: its area rose 19% to 810,000 hectares and production rose 24% to 4.6 million tonnes.
| Crop measure | 2024 result | Change or context |
|---|---|---|
| Cereal area | 2.966 million ha | 69% of cropped area |
| Wheat area | 1.531 million ha | 11% lower than 2023 |
| Barley area | 1.194 million ha | 5.1% higher than 2023 |
| Cereal production | 19.441 million tonnes | 12% lower than 2023 |
| Potato area | 118,000 ha | 3.1% higher than 2023 |
Sources: Chapter 2: Structure of industry and Chapter 7: Crops.
Livestock populations and meat production
The UK cattle and calf population was 9.4 million animals in June 2024, down 1.5% from 2023. The beef herd was 1.3 million animals, down 4.5%, while the dairy herd was 1.8 million. The more detailed breeding-herd estimate counted 3.181 million female cattle, split between 1.344 million beef cows and 1.836 million dairy cows.
The sheep and lamb population stood at 31.017 million head, down 2.5% from 2023. Within that total, the female sheep breeding flock fell from 15.438 million to 14.882 million head. The pig population was 4.7 million animals, including a female breeding herd of 327,000, which was down 3.1% year on year.
Poultry numbers were much larger by headcount. The UK poultry population was 176.085 million birds in 2024, including 112.374 million table fowl. These are population estimates at the June measurement point, so they should not be confused with annual production totals.
Annual home-fed meat production totalled 4.166 million tonnes in 2024, up 2.6% from 2023, with a production value of £11.300 billion. Beef and veal production rose 3.8% to 937,000 tonnes, while pig meat production rose 3.9% to 920,000 tonnes. Poultry meat production increased 2.9% to 2.031 million tonnes. Sheep meat moved differently, falling 6.5% to 277,000 tonnes.
Source: Chapter 8: Livestock.
Farm income, productivity and labour economics
UK Total Income from Farming was £7.7 billion in 2024, up £1.6 billion, or 26%, from 2023. Agriculture contributed £14.5 billion in gross value added at basic prices, equal to 0.6% of UK GVA. Total Factor Productivity decreased 1.4% between 2023 and 2024, so higher income and output values should not be read as evidence that measured productivity increased.
Farm Business Income provides a different view because it is reported per farm and uses an accounting year. Average Farm Business Income for all UK farm types was £41,500 per farm in 2023/24 at current prices. In Great Britain, the average was £42,000, but the national figure concealed substantial differences between countries.
| Geography | Average Farm Business Income, 2023/24 |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | £42,000 per farm |
| England | £45,000 per farm |
| Wales | £29,000 per farm |
| Scotland | £36,000 per farm |
Income was unevenly distributed. In Great Britain in 2023/24, 29% of farms had Farm Business Income below zero, while 28% had income of at least £50,000. When performance was measured using Net Farm Income, 41% of farms had a negative result and 22% had at least £50,000. In England, 61% of farms failed to recover their costs when measured as output per £100 of input.
Farm Business Income uses accounting years ending on average in February. It is therefore not a single calendar-year measure, and comparisons with the 2024 calendar-year national accounts should retain that distinction.
Source: Chapter 3: Farming income and Summary.
Food production, prices and trade
UK total livestock output was £20.1 billion in 2024, up £1.1 billion, or 5.6%, from 2023. Total crop output was £11.7 billion, down £0.6 billion, or 5.3%. Intermediate consumption in agriculture was £20.9 billion, down £1.2 billion, or 5.5%.
Dairy and eggs both recorded higher values. The value of milk and milk products increased 5.5% to £6.3 billion, while milk production rose 1.1% to 15.269 million tonnes. The value of eggs for human consumption increased 35% to £1.4 billion, and production rose 4.9% to 1.148 billion dozen.
Domestic supply shares show why production volumes do not equal self-sufficiency. UK cereal production supplied 79% of total new cereal supply for use in the UK in 2024, down from 93% in 2023. UK oilseed rape production supplied 53% of total new supply, down from 63% in 2023. These are supply shares for the stated period, not forecasts of future availability.
Prices also shifted. GB prime cattle deadweight prices in 2024 were 4.5% higher than in 2023 and 25% above the five-year average. The comparison is specifically for Great Britain and for prime cattle deadweight prices; it is not a general measure of all farm-gate prices.
Source: Summary and Chapter 7: Crops and Chapter 8: Livestock.
Environmental pressures and organic farming
Agriculture accounted for around 12% of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. Its share of specific pollutants was considerably higher: agriculture accounted for 69% of UK nitrous oxide emissions, 48% of methane emissions and 87% of ammonia emissions.
Longer-term comparisons show reductions in some emissions. Agricultural nitrous oxide emissions were 12.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023, down from 16.4 million tonnes in 1990. Agricultural ammonia emissions were 230.7 thousand tonnes in 2023, 18% lower than in 1990. These measures cover different gases and units, so their percentages should not be combined into one overall environmental score.
The weight of pesticides applied to UK arable crops was 14,799 tonnes in 2022, including 7,848 tonnes of herbicides. Arable-crop pesticides represented around 85–90% of all pesticides applied to UK agricultural land in the latest Defra comparison. The 2022 figure is the latest year shown for that series in the 2024 release.
Organic land reached 503,000 hectares in 2024, up 1.0% from 2023. Fully organic land covered 454,000 hectares, down 1.7%, while land in conversion increased 36% to 49,000 hectares. Land in conversion represented 9.7% of total organic land. Organic land represented 3.0% of agricultural-holding land and involved 5,133 organic operators.
Permanent pasture, including rough grazing, accounted for 62% of UK organic land, covering 311,000 hectares. Organic data are collected through certification inspections at varying times, so they are not an exact single-date snapshot in the same way as a June livestock estimate.
Source: Chapter 11: Agri-environment and Chapter 12: Organics.