|
|
41% of all farms already have an additional source of income
and on small farms, an additional source of income is especially important.
Agricultural contracting, where a farmer utilises his spare time and existing
machinery to work on another farm, has grown in recent years. In many cases
this has developed to the point where additional staff are employed and
machinery purchased specifically to do contracting work. Involvement is
reported on 37% of diversified farms. The remainder of diversified activities
include on-farm processing and sales, reported on nearly 27% of diversified
holdings. This "added value" type of enterprise is thought to
have been a major growth area over the last 10 years. 17.5% of diversified
holdings create speciality products. A remaining "miscellaneous"
figure of nearly 13% covers all other enterprises that do not fall into
the above categories. The speciality products area has seen growth over
the last 10 years as can be seen through the success of groups such as "Taste
of the West" which have created important food links between producers
and processors, and generated ancillary employment. A study by the University
of Exeter found on average, just under 1.5 diversified enterprises per farm.
This ranged from 65% with one alternative enterprise to 2% with 4 or more.
Regionally specific information relating to incomes from
off-farm employment and self-employment is not available. However, national
figures for 1996/97 year are available. These exclude contribution from
household members other than the farmer and spouse and also exclude those
farms classed as part-time. It is likely that other income sources are already
highly significant to these excluded farm businesses. Research into off-farm
employment identifies from 20% to over 60% of farm households with full-time
or part-time off-farm employment. Official estimates (which include only
the farmer and spouse on full-time farms) suggest about 25% of farms in
England currently generate an average of £2,400 income per annum from
this source. Off-farm employment has unsurprisingly been shown to be strongly
associated with access to labour markets and therefore is likely to be far
more prevalent in urban fringes than in remote upland and lowland areas.
However, these sources make a very significant financial contribution to
the farm business. Over a third of farms with off-farm employment generated
in excess of £10,000 per farm per annum.
This source of additional income is one of the most accessible
for many farm businesses, especially small ones without adequate capital
resources to diversify on-farm. Opportunities vary significantly according
to farm location, accessibility and strength of suitable labour markets.
In addition, off-farm working may be constrained by on-farm work practices
which vary according to farm type (e.g. milking dairy cows may limit off-farm
working whereas seasonal arable operations may be more compatible). In many
cases farm household members may not have the necessary skills, qualifications
or confidence to seek off-farm jobs and there is clearly a need to tackle
this issue to enhance social and economic opportunity.
Industry in the South West (source
: Defra)
One in four farms are already involved in some form of
tourism in the West Country compared with one in seven nationally. The importance
of tourism increases further west and into the upland areas of the Region.
Indications are that many more farmers are considering further involvement,
and there is potential for greater collaborative efforts. Only 50% of farms
provide all-year-round accommodation and there is a need to improve quality
standards and co-operative marketing/support networks.
Accommodation and leisure provision is one of the largest
sectors in diversified farm business in this Region, with 51% of diversified
farms being involved in activities including: bed and breakfast; self-catering
accommodation; camp sites. Touring caravans and tents provide 39% of bed
spaces; adding self-catering and B&B sectors, the figure is 53%, much
of which is on farms. Farmhouses form about 12% of the Region's serviced
accommodation stock, whilst self-catering on farms represents 23% of such
accommodation in the Region. This sector is clearly of major significance
to the rural economy of the South West.
The contribution of these accommodation and recreation
facilities to farm business income is extremely varied depending on the
type and scale of activity and occupancy rates/visitor numbers. Net profits
of hundreds of thousands of pounds per annum for very large facilities are
not unknown, but the overwhelming majority realise a much lower contribution
to their farm incomes, with an average of about £2000-£4000
net profit per annum. Many achieve significantly lower levels than this,
especially those providing recreational facilities. A University of Exeter
study estimated that over 10% of visitor service providers achieved net
profits of less than zero, indicating that the necessary knowledge and skills
are lacking. Objective 5b funding has nevertheless raised quality in these
facilities and generated employment.
 |
