The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is urging arable members to share their data in its 2024 NFU Harvest Survey.
The deadline to complete the survey is September 29, and the union said the data collected will help it lobby for a “stronger arable sector”.
NFU combinable crops board chair Jamie Burrows said farmers should give a “handful of minutes” to help the NFU make a strong case to government for policies that build resilience in the sector and support food security.
“Given the challenges faced by growers this year, I want to ask for your support in our 2024 Harvest Survey, and to stress just how important it is to gather this data,” he said.
“It means we will be able to evidence how this year’s perfect storm of increased input costs and weather have affected harvest.
“We will take this forward across our lobbying, laying bare the challenges to resilience in the combinable crops sector.”
Harvest 2024
Burrows said farmers’ experiences are not only important on a national scale but also at a regional level, where variations, especially in terms of the weather, will tell the story of the disparities across the country.
“The more regional data we have, the more tailored we can be when taking this information back to MPs and officials and the more relevant a case we can make,” he said.
“This survey will only take a few minutes and should be undertaken once you have finished harvest to get the most accurate figures possible.
“It is a lot to ask at such a busy time of year, as I know the work doesn’t stop once the combine has been put away, but those few minutes will help us to build the strongest possible evidence base.”
Burrows said the strength of the picutre that the NFU can present will be determined by the number of responses, and encouraged everyone to take part.
Survey guidelines include:
- Not filling in the survey unless your harvest is complete;
- If your harvest is not complete by the survey deadline, give the average yield realised on the area harvested to date;
- Yield estimates should be based on dried samples. If this is not possible, adjust to give your best estimate of yield on a 14.5% (approximately) moisture content basis for cereals, 9% for oilseeds and 16% for proteins;
- Areas planted – record the same areas as you entered on your June Census return;
- All figures must be in metric units, (tonnes and hectares). To convert to hectares, multiply the area in acres by 0.405.
