to cut over the 12 months ahead.

With input prices remaining a central pressure on farm margins, the survey aims to build a

clear, sector-by-sector picture of which costs are being trimmed first — from fertiliser,

seed and crop protection on the arable side, to purchased feed, vet and medicines, bedding

and energy across livestock enterprises.

The survey covers five enterprise types: cereals, oilseeds and pulses; potatoes; dairy;

sheep and cattle; and pigs and poultry. Farmers running more than one enterprise can

select all that apply, and answer separately for each — so a mixed farm can record that it

has cut fertiliser on the grassland side, for example, but not across the combinable crops.

It has been deliberately designed to be quick. There are no free-text boxes and no personal

details to enter: simply tick the costs that apply to them and submit, typically in under

a minute.

Results will be shared with participating farmers.  

Farming Online will publish a summary of the findings — broken down by enterprise — so that

participants can see how their own cost-cutting decisions compare with the wider industry.

Every farm business is making difficult decisions about where to spend and where to ease back, but very few have a sense of what everyone else is doing.  This takes a minute to complete, and in return every participant gets to see where their sector is actually making its savings.

The survey is open now at: Variable cost cutting survey