Accounting for agriculture, farming and rural business is a specialist area that requires expertise and an understanding of the industry. On this page you can access a range of articles, books and online resources providing quick links to guidance, surveys, statistics, relevant organisations and news.
We also maintain Business & Industry Guides on equine business, fishing and horticulture.
Online articles
The library provides access to a range of articles in full text from leading business, finance and management journals.
You will need to be logged-in to the website to gain full access to the range of articles available online.
Useful links
ICAEW
Farming and Rural Business Group
The special interest group provides practical support to chartered accountants within the sector. It offers news updates, key monthly statistics, surveys and technical helpsheets, as well as conferences and seminars.
Accounting resources
We maintain a separate guide to resources for the accounting standard IAS 41: Agriculture.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Working in farming: business advice
Dedicated web page focusing on farm accounts and benchmarking, with the aim of assisting farmers with management accounting, financial accounts, farm planning and budgeting. The site features a range of guides, publications, spreadsheets and tools including:
Farming: Single Payment Scheme
All the latest guidance for farmers from DEFRA on claiming subsidies under the Single Payment Scheme introduced through reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Information on policy is updated on this page as it is developed and introduced.
CAP Payments Search
Web database that provides details of all payments made under the CAP scheme from 1 January 2007 to 15 October 2007.
Others
Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN)
The FADN produce an annual survey carried out by the member states of the EU, collated for comparative purposes. Includes online access to the FADN Public Database which includes datasets covering costs, balance sheet assets and liabilities, subsidies and taxes across the EU. Datasets are available for download in a spreadsheet friendly format.
Farming Matters
Newsletter on accounting and taxation issues of farming from accounting firm Lovewell-Blake, available in PDF format.
IR232: Farm stock valuation
Technical tax helpsheet from HMRC.
Landed estates and rural businesses
Saffery Champness produces regular newsletters on accounting and taxation issues for rural businesses, published in PDF format with an archive back to August 2002.
UK 200 (Agriculture) Group
Information on the UK 200 Agricultural Group, a specialist division of the UK 200 Group of Practising Chartered Accountants.
Organisations
Agricultural Law Association (ALA)
Organisation founded ‘to provide a forum for professionals serving agriculture - lawyers, surveyors, accountants, bankers, farm business consultants and others, to support each other in their specialisms’.
British Institute of Agricultural Consultants (BIAC)
Body which ‘exists for principals, directors, partners and employees of firms, and for individuals, engaged in the giving of advice in agriculture’. The site includes an online directory of members.
Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV)
Professional body for agricultural and rural valuers with valuation expertise and skills including ‘buying, selling and renting to taxation and compulsory purchase, from conservation issues to farming structures and auctioneering’. The site includes a database of members and a questions and answers section that includes information on costing of agricultural operations.
Country Land and Business Association (CLA)
Organisation established with the ‘sole objective is to safeguard the interests of private landowners and rural businesses’. The site contains an archive of documentation on topical issues and includes the full text of its publications ‘A Tax Framework For Jobs and Enterprise In The Rural Economy’ and ‘Simplifying Capital Gains Tax’ (with recommendations for change).
Countryside Council for Wales
Government advisory body for Wales. The site contains news, information on policies and a publications and research section.
DEFRA
Food and farming section of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website, with information on farming policy, farming sectors and sources of business advice for farmers.
Farmers Union of Wales
Welsh national body.
Farming UK
Directory, includes a special page on farming software.
Institute of Agricultural Management (IAgrM)
Organisation for those engaged in farm management in the UK established in 1995, following on from the Farm Management Association.
Institute of Agricultural Secretaries & Administrators
Professional body representing those involved in rural business administration. The site explains the role and scope of the body, with details of membership.
National Farmers Union (NFU)
Information provided by the national body includes the NFU Business newsletter.
Natural England
Statutory body, which produces the State of the Natural Environment series of annual reports
Core Organic (Coordination of European Transnational Research in Organic Food and Farming)
Coordination project initiated as a part of the European Commissions ERA-NET Scheme and comprising of 11 partners including DEFRA that aims ‘to gather the critical mass and enhance quality, relevance and utilisation of resources in European research in organic food and farming. The final goal is to establish a joint research programme’. CORE is willing to include all countries with a national research programme for organic food and farming.
Rural Payments Agency (RPA)
official website of the executive agency established on 16 October 2001 to combine the CAP payment functions of the Intervention Board and DEFRA. The site includes a directory of RPS schemes, information on milk quotas (latest figures, FAQ, legislation and milk quota dates to remember) and a news service.
News and statistics
Farmers Guardian
Useful website featuring a farming news service, the Farmers Guardian Directory of industry contacts, plus a market prices listing drawn from a range of sources and updated regularly.
Farming Online
Farming resource centre which includes an impressive listing of prices including arable prices, feed prices, livestock prices, milk quota, daily price trends, hay and straw prices, and horticulture prices.
Farmers Weekly Interactive
Online news resource including the Farmers Weekly Agricultural Register and a price service.
Office for National Statistics
National statistics on agricultural and horticultural machinery, agricultural employment, land use, economics of agriculture, food control, meat and livestock and agricultural holdings.
Business and profits surveys
Farm Business Survey
The Farm Business Survey (FBS) is an annual survey of farms, carried out region-by-region with the intention of providing information for policymakers. The comparative information in the survey can also be used by chartered accountants, farmers and farm advisors to assess the financial performance of individual farms. The availability of results from the FBS varies between regions.
Farm accounts in England (DEFRA)
Index to the collated national reports on farm income available online in PDF, Excel and Word formats.
Farm Business Survey (Central Southern England)
Farm Business Survey (Eastern Counties)
Information on the FBS produced by the Rural Business unit at the Centre for Rural Economics Research (Cambridge University). Includes summary results for the latest report.
Farm Business Survey (East Midlands)
Includes the financial results of the FBS from the Rural Business Research Unit at the University of Nottingham looking at study farms located in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland. The financial results for the last three years can be downloaded in PDF format.
Farm Business Survey (North East)
Information from the Farm Business Survey Team at the University of Newcastle, including the option to read the summaries of the annual report on the Farm Business Survey called ‘Farming in the North’. The site also contains information on the Farmers' Intentions Survey.
Farm Business Survey (Wales)
Information on the FBS from the Welsh Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, with a useful online database of farm incomes for the region.
Farm Business Survey (Yorkshire)
Survey from the Rural Business Research Unit at Askham Bryan College in York. Its annual publication ‘Farming in Yorkshire’, is available to purchase from the unit and contains results from the Farm Business Survey and Special Studies for the Yorkshire region.
Farm Profits Survey
The ICAEW Farming and Rural Business Group produces an annual report on its Farm Profits Survey, which is available to members on the group website.
Articles and books in the Library collection
To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.
You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports by post, fax or email through our document delivery service.
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