Anglian farmers top internet league table

EASTERN region farmers are among the most internet savvy in the country, reveals a survey.

More farmers are adopting the internet as a daily part of their business, with an increasing number buying farm inputs online, the study found.

Some 56% of all farmers now use the internet, according to the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU). Of those, more than 87% have access to broadband., compared with just 55% four years ago.

In the eastern region, some 66% of arable farmers are now online.

This is a higher than the percentage of arable farmers online in the southeast (65%), north-east (63%), Northern Ireland (62%), Scotland (60%) and the East Midlands (59%).

Eastern region livestock farmers are again among the best connected in their sector, with 63% using the internet to do business.

This percentage is the same as the north-east and higher than in the south-east (62%), the West Midlands (51%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (51%). Least likely to use the intenet are livestock farmers in Wales (48%).

Close to half of all arable farmers said they have gone online to get information about farm inputs (47%), compared to 42% who had done so four years ago.

The increase in online purchasing is more marked, with 40% of farmers reporting that they have bought some farm inputs on-line compared to just 17% buying farm inputs on-line four years ago.

“A growing percentage of farmers using the Internet and enjoying broadband, said NFRU economist Jim Williams. “But just half of the farming community use the internet for information on farming inputs.”

Just two in five farmers were purchasing farm inputs technology online, he added.