Farm managers are earning an average salary of just over £53,000, according to the Institute of Agricultural Management’s (IAgrM) latest survey, ‘Farm Managers in 2014’. Two thirds of managers also receive rent free housing which together with other non-cash benefits is estimated to be worth an average £12,600.

IAgrM said the high pay is in recognition of managers' multi-tasking and growing responsibilities. The rise in pay – not including the additional rewards – since the previous study in 2012, has not attracted new blood to farming.

Only 14 percent of farm managers in the survey were aged under 40, compared with 63 percent in IAgrM’s first survey in 1969. The ageing of the farming profession is a problem that has attracted policy makers' attention in recent years. Though initiatives to attract graduates have met with limited success, youth workers have suggested that the current work climate and cuts to education and careers guidance is hindering younger people without a background in farming from entering into the profession. In the wake of the government's decision to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board last year, trade union representatives warned that, by turning agricultural labour into a minimum wage profession, the government would further stymie the flow of new blood into the sector, preventing young people from working their way up in agriculture.

The fact farm management is an aging profession was further confirmed in the IAgrM survey, with 33 percent of respondents having 15 years or less experience in management positions compared with literally twice as many in 1997.

The survey which took in the jobs and pay of 100 managers, reported that 70 percent were employed by private individuals or family trusts, whilst the number employed by land management companies fell slightly to 11 percent. Area farmed continued to increase with 42 percent now responsible for more than 3,000ha compared with just 7 percent in 1969, reflecting a pattern seen throughout Western Europe.

Farm management continues to be an exclusively male occupation, according to the findings. Recently, global initiatives have tried to focus on closing the gender gap in agriculture, which sees hugely different rates of pay and responsibilities between men and women. Worldwide, women make up 43 percent of the agricultural workforce, yet in the UK, women account for a little over a fifth of farmers, and can expect to receive £8,000 lower annual pay than their male counterparts.  

One third of farm mangers were graduates, while the remainder had a diploma or some formal qualification. Despite an increase in business values and the complex nature of their associated management, the occupation continues to be very 'hands on'.

"Farm management has undergone a sea change in earnings in the last five years to a salary which nowadays reflects the very skilled position, the whole chain of responsibilities for both legislation/regulation and profitability and the fact it’s a seven days a week job," IAgrM chair Tim Brigstocke commented.

"However despite the rightful rewards, it is an aging profession. The vast majority of farm managers are between 40 and 59 years, which indicates that the industry needs to attract new managers to cover the loss of those nearing retirement age."