The Farmer Intentions Survey (FIS) is a repeated cross-sectional survey of >2,000 Scottish farmers, crofters and smallholders, managed by the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). Data has been collected in three waves: 2013, 2018 and 2023.

Our colleague Altea Lorenzo-Arribas has contributed her expertise in questionnaire data analysis and data visualisations to a variety of FIS policy briefs and reports. Three reports co-authored by Hutton, BioSS and SRUC colleagues have explored triggers for change, farm management trends over time and uptake of agri-environmental practices.

Planning for succession as a trigger for change: Insights from the FIS 2018

• Farmers and crofters who are planning for succession are more likely to invest in their businesses for a number of years prior to formal succession taking place.
• Support aimed at this period in farm and croft transition have the potential to facilitate transformational change, since succession planning can represent a key trigger point for change in farm businesses.
• Younger farmers and crofters are also more likely to be making and planning changes to their activities.

Report is available to read: Planning for Succession as a Trigger for Change: Insights from the Farmer Intention Survey

Inception report: FIS 2023 

Preliminary descriptive analysis of data from the 2023 survey, focusing on the FIS ‘bridging questions’ on background, factors driving change over past 5 years, management changes over the past 5 years, and intended changes in the next 5 years.

• The profile of Scottish farmers is becoming older, and more educated, but not more female.
• Fewer farms report making a profit, and the share of household  income coming from the farm itself has reduced .
• Market factors have been a primary driver of change over the past 5 years.

The FIS 2023 inception report is available to read: Farmer Intention Survey 2023: Inception Report

Understanding change in uptake of agri-environmental practices in Scotland: Evidence from the FIS 2023

Most farmers say they have not changed the level of agri-environmental activity on their farm in the past 5 years, nor the area of non-commercial trees. The majority do not intend to make changes to these in the next 5 years.

Few report decreases in agri-environmental activity or non-commercial woodland in the past 5 years, or intentions to decrease these in the next 5 years.

27% of farmers and crofters report they have increased agri-environmental activity in the past 5 years, and 17% report that they have increased the area of non-commercial trees. The proportion reporting increasing agri-environmental activity has grown steadily across the FIS waves (2013, 2018 and 2023).

The most frequently reported intended change in the next 5 years was to increase agri-environmental activity (38%).

Report is available to read: Understanding change in uptake of agri-environmental practices in Scotland: Evidence from the Farmer Intentions Survey 2023

Further work

• Statistical challenges relate to the repeated cross-sectional nature of the study which impedes comparisons between planned and actual changes for specific farmers Representativeness of the 2023 sample, in particular of small farms, is under study.
• A new report on Farm diversification and the role of digital technologies from the FIS 2023 wave has been submitted by Colley et al.