Some 36 per cent of farm income depends on the Basic Payment Scheme, but one in three farmers are yet to start preparing for its withdrawal according to a survey for Farmers Weekly. 79 per cent of farmers have no clear idea how their farm business will survive without it. Lowland livestock enterprises are particularly reliant on the basic payment.
Just 15 per cent of farmers say they are interested in taking a lump sum to retire from farming.
53 per cent of farm businesses say they have already diversified. Of these 51 per cent have a renewable energy scheme, including solar panels (76 per cent), biomass boilers (26 per cent), wind power (22 per cent) and anaerobic digestion (7 per cent).
The next most popular diversification is holiday accommodation (24 per cent), followed by offices and workspace (10 per cent), leisure activities (7 per cent) and farm shops, cafés and restaurants (5 per cent).
