On Thursday (21 March), Defra published its January Price Index, giving information on agricultural prices for the UK as a whole. The Agricultural Price Index measures the monthly and yearly shifts in agricultural farm gate prices and input costs.

Trends in the data will be welcomed by farmers, after the difficulties faced in 2012. They reveal a divergence between input and output costs, suggesting farming in the UK is more profitable in 2013.

In January, overall farm-gate prices increased by 0.3 percent on the month, and 11.9 percent compared to January 2012. The cost of agricultural inputs, on the other hand, fell by 0.1 percent in January, though these were up by 6.5 percent on January last year.

Defra said on Thursday, "The poor harvest in 2012 continues to keep crop prices high." Overall crop prices were 28 percent higher than in January 2012. The most notable rises were seen in main crop potatoes, prices of which more than doubled over the year, and cereal prices, which were up by 33 percent.

Wheat prices were down 3 percent on the month, but up by 39 percent compared to last year. Fresh fruit and vegetables also fared well as a result of extreme weather in 2012, with 27 and 26 percent rises respectively.

However, the news wasn't all good. Feed prices were up by 20 percent, and seed prices by 18 percent, according to Defra's figures. Nevertheless, aside from seed and feed costs, increases in input costs were mostly marginal, and fertiliser costs fell by 8 percent on the year.

More information, including a detailed breakdown of figures by crop, animal and input item is available from Defra here.