Farm Benchmarking Service
The Farm Benchmarking Service at Newcastle has operated a free, confidential Farm Benchmarking Service to farmers across Northern England for the past 86 years.
The Farm Benchmarking Service at Newcastle University has now closed. The unit has operated a free, confidential Farm Benchmarking Service to farmers across Northern England for the past 86 years, from 1936 to 2022. The operation was financed through the government Farm Business Survey project (formerly the Farm Management Survey) and information provided was used to inform government decisions and to monitor policy impacts.
For the past 16 years the Newcastle unit has operated as part of a six-member consortium of Universities and Agricultural Colleges collectively known as Rural Business Research (RBR). Collective publications and those from other RBR members are available on their website.
Publications from the Newcastle unit remain available via the dropdown below.
For any queries relating to the Farm Business Survey at Newcastle University, please contact Charles Scott.
Nationwide network
The survey was part of a nationwide network involving six other universities and agricultural colleges which operate together as Rural Business Research. Data was collected to a common methodology allowing national comparisons to be made.
More detailed Farm Group data and enterprise reports are available from the Farm Business Survey website.
Publications
Read about our recent research and publications.
Recent publications
- Organic Farming in England 2020-2021
- Hill Farming in England 2020-2021
- Hill Farming in England 19-20
- Organic Farming in England 2018 - 2019
- Hill Farming in England 2018 - 2019
- Organic Farming in England 2017 - 2018
- Hill Farming in England 2017-2018 (PDF: 2MB)
- Organic Farming in England 2016-17 (PDF: 1MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2016-2017 (PDF: 1MB)
- A further investigation into the impact of the ban on neonicotinoid seed dressings on oilseed rape production in England 2015-16 (PDF: 1MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2015/2016 (PDF: 1.4MB)
- Organic Farming in England 2015/2016 (PDF: 1MB)
- Organic Farming in England 2014-2015 (PDF: 3MB)
- An interim impact assessment of the neonicotinoid seed treatment ban on oilseed rape production in England v2 (PDF: 7MB)
- Organic Farming in England 2013-2014 (PDF: 1.88MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2013-14 (PDF: 9MB)
- Hill Farming England 2014-15 (PDF:2MB)
Older publications
- Organic Farming in England 2012-13 (PDF: 3.35MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2013-14(PDF: 9.3MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2012-13 (PDF: 1.32MB)
- Organic Farming in England 2011-12 (PDF 6MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2011-12(PDF: 782MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2010-11 (PDF: 777KB)
- Hill Farming in England 2009-10(PDF: 4.6MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2008-09(PDF: 3.5MB)
- Hill Farming in England 2007-08(PDF: 3MB)
- The Economics of Oilseed Rape Production (PDF: 1.26MB)