Meadow Farm, our mixed lowland farm model, made its largest-ever margin from production in 2025/26. As previously reported, this is actually only the second time in its history that the business has made a profit before support payments. For the current year, an increase in both variable costs and overheads, results in a large fall in the margin from production, but it is still budgeted to be positive.
Meadow Farm is a notional 154-hectare (380 acre) holding in the Midlands. It consists mostly of grassland, with wheat and barley mainly for livestock feed. There are 60 spring-calving suckler cows with all progeny finished, a dairy bull beef enterprise and a 500-ewe breeding flock. It has an SFI 2023 agreement which will finish at the end of this year.
The table below sets out actual results for the years 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is then a budget for the current year and the first forecast for 2027/28.