The latest estimated from the Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs shows that the total income increased by 31.084 billion to 35.567 billion.

In real terms, after adjustment for the effect of inflation, the total income from farming rose by 3851 million or 18 per cent.

Defra says that this represents the best performance for the agricultural industry since the mid-1990s.

The total income from farming per annual work unit (AWU) of entrepreneurial labour - farmers and other unpaid labour - is estimated to have risen by 16 per cent in 2011 to 330,000 in real terms.

Over the longer term, total income from farming per Annual Work Unit (AWU) of entrepreneurial labour has performed better than total income from farming owing to a decline in the number of farmers and other unpaid workers, the Defra report says.

Further Reading You can view the full report by clicking here.