What information it has on what the average income of hill farmers was in each of the last three years.

The specific information requested is not held centrally. However, The Scottish Government produces estimates of Farm Business Income (FBI) which are derived from the Farm Accounts Survey (FAS); an annual survey of approximately 500 farm businesses in Scotland. The FAS does not specifically record a designation of “hill farms” within the land of the farm business.
However, if we assume that hill areas are generally designated as Less Favoured Areas (LFA) and these tend to be beef cattle and/or sheep rearing businesses; rows 1, 2 and 3 of Table 1 provides the average FBI for farm businesses that have LFA as their predominant activity type. The final column shows the 2010-11 FBI adjusted to account for the full time equivalent (FTE) of unpaid labour contributing to the farm business.
FBI is a management accounting measure of profit which is equivalent to financial Net Profit. FBI excludes small farm businesses and also pig, poultry and horticulture units. It represents the return to all unpaid labour and their capital invested in the farm business.
Table 1. Average FBI (£’s) of farm businesses in Scotland by farm type and year: 2008-09 to 2010-11
Farm Type
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2010-11 FBI/FTE
Specialist sheep (LFA)
16,268
29,024
29,235
23,577
Specialist beef (LFA)
26,923
37,885
32,528
23,110
Cattle and sheep (LFA)
27,896
44,544
42,942
28,664
Cereals
41,817
16,295
50,866
41,738
General cropping
60,862
18,428
59,674
40,130
Dairy
78,446
58,853
73,632
37,935
Lowland cattle and sheep
23,969
32,125
34,325
23,663
Mixed
45,317
39,678
47,812
28,759

More information on FBI and the incomes of farm businesses in Scotland can be found in Section B of the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture (ERSA), last published in June 2012 at the following internet address:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Agriculture-Fisheries/PubEconomicReport.
This year, for the first time, the Scottish Government has released Enterprise Gross Margin (EGM) data for Scottish farms (for 2010-11) – this shows the individual components of farm businesses including; upland and hill herd beef enterprises and hard hill sheep enterprises. However, EGM data only gives a rough indication of gross profit to the business, and is not a measure of farm income.
The EGM report was released on 30 October 2012 and can be accessed at the following internet address:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Agriculture-Fisheries/Publications/EnterpriseAnalysis.
Scotland's hill farming sector is of great importance to the rural sector and the Scottish Government has been working hard to ensure it remains sustainable for future generations. Payment rates under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme were increased for fragile and very fragile areas in 2009 and 2010 (total 38% increase) and the scheme was further modified in 2011. Support for LFA is a priority through any transition period between the current and upcoming Scottish Rural Development Programmes, and we are seeking flexibility in the new ANC scheme under the new Programme to allow us to take account of regional requirements.