Almost a third of all farmers said they feel more optimistic about the future of their business than they did a year ago, according to a survey of 6,532 farmers conducted by the National Farm Research Unit (NFRU).

But 46 per cent said that they felt neither more optimistic nor pessimistic, with the remaining 22 per cent of farmers interviewed saying they were less optimistic than last year.

The NFRU asked more than 6,500 farmers if they felt more optimistic about the future of their business than they did a year ago.

Jim Williams, marketing and communications director of precision prospecting at NFRU, said: “Although the middle ground of neither optimistic nor pessimistic was the main category throughout, it was interesting that around one-third of all farmers felt more optimistic than last year - seeing the glass half full, rather than half empty.

“There were some interesting regional variations, with 39 per cent of farmers in Wales and 37 per cent of farmers in Scotland expressing optimism compared with the same time last year, higher than in any other region. Farmers in the South West, the West Midlands and in Yorkshire and Humberside Regions were more optimistic than the average across the country (33-34 per cent of farms). The regions that appeared to be suffering the most were Northern Ireland and Ireland.”

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