Earnings are up for dairy farmers in England
Dairy farmers in England earned £105,000 more in the business year 2024/25 than in the previous 12 months. Average farm business income for dairy farms is forecast to be around £176,000 compared to just £70,900 in the business year until 1 March 2024, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in its latest estimates.
At a UK level, the average farmgate milk price rose by around 12% in the period from March 2024 to January 2025 compared to the previous year, Defra statistics show. That recovery of milk prices, supported by tight supplies in the early part of the year, is expected to increase output from milk by 12% and be a key driver raising farm business income for dairy farms. The department stresses that there is a wide variation in milk prices, with some farmers receiving considerably more or less than the average.
Output from other cattle enterprises is also expected to be higher and this, along with the increase in output from milk, is predicted to more than compensate for a fall in crop output (most notably wheat) of 19%. Input costs are expected to fall by around 2%, primarily driven by reduced feed costs (reflecting lower cereal prices) and lower fertiliser costs.
The figures are for February/March months with the latest estimates covering the 2024 harvest and include the 2024 delinked Basic Payment Scheme, which is included within the total farm output and therefore contributes to farm business income. That Basic Payment fell by nearly a quarter year-on-year due to the abolition of the European agricultural policy in the UK after Brexit.
Dairy farmer earnings
The Defra figures show that dairy farmers had a particularly bad year in 2023/24, earning just £70,900. In the previous 2 business years, their average income was about £225,000, which was substantially higher than in the 2024/25 period.
Furthermore, dairy farmers were by far the best off compared to other farm types in England. Specialist pig farmers made an average farm business income in 2024/25 of £155,000 while general cropping farms, such as potatoes, earned £108,000. Specialist cereal farmers made no more than £27,000, just £1,000 more than their colleagues with grazing livestock with an average business income of £28,000.
Earlier figures from Defra show that the dairy herd in England as at 30 June 2024 amounted to 1,080,243 animals. Since 2021, that English dairy herd is broadly stable at just under or over 1 million animals. The total number of cattle stood at just under 5 million, a decrease of 2% year-on-year due to the further decline in the beef herd.
