FARMERS are putting in an average working week of some 70 hours for as little as £4.70 an hour.

This finding is the result of a new study from chartered accountants Deloitte and Touche and the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Cost of your Time - Making the Most of It is based on a survey of about 300 RASE members, the 2000 farm results of the Deloitte and Touche food and agriculture group and further telephone interviews.

The survey asked farmers to define how they spent their waking hours.

While on average 27pc of time was consumed by personal and leisure hours, the average respondent was putting in 70 hours, with a significant number achieving 90 hours or more each week.

Most time - 4pc - was spent on practical farming, mostly physical activity. As farms have cut staff in the face of declining profits, most farmers have found themselves back driving tractors and tending stock.

Administration, seen by many as an increasing cause of stress, took 19pc of time. Then came planning, 16pc; personal development, 6pc, and buying and selling, 3pc, with "other activities" accounting for the other 10pc of time.

To gauge what interviewees thought would be a reasonable rate of remuneration, they were asked what they thought they would have to pay a manager to take over all their duties.

The average response was about £30,000, or £8.50 an hour, and double that achieved for a 70-hour week in return for the average farm income in the 2000 Deloitte and Touche farm results.

This compares with average incomes for medical general practitioners earning about £17 an hour and an estate agent achieving £19 an hour.

"Given the length of most respondents' working week, the challenge must be to try to help farmers to work smarter rather than harder," said RASE's Mr Alan Spedding.

"Despite the long hours, few of these farmers felt they were on top of their jobs. Many said they were just firefighting; dashing from one crisis to the next."

The survey confirmed the continuing decline in farm labour forces. Over the past five years survey respondents reported that full-time labour had fallen 23pc on their farms, while casual employment had risen by 48pc. The result was that many felt the burdens of running a business, and particularly the demands of administration and legislation, but there were far fewer people to whom tasks could be delegated.

"Too many farmers run the risk of failing to invest their time to best advantage," said Mrs Sarah Anderson, food and agriculture manager at Deloitte and Touche in Leeds.

"In all our studies it is clear that effective management is an essential element of a profitable business. What matters is for farmers to assess the roles they play; identify those they do well and efficiently and look to outsource the rest."

The Cost of your Time study contains many examples of buying in outside help. The most common is farm secretarial assistance. At £10 to £20 an hour, this can be a wise investment in literally buying time for the busy farmer to manage his business more effectively.

Although planning took a significant proportion of time, many felt that there was much more that they could do.

"One surprise was the comparatively small amount of time the average respondent spent on buying inputs and selling their produce," said Mrs Anderson.

"The market place has changed dramatically in the past five years, yet respondents said their time commitment to these activities had not. In part, this is another function of outsourcing with an increasing number of farmers depending on agronomists and buying groups, while others now participate in grain marketing groups and co-operatives to reduce their risks."

In addition to farming, a large number of participants in the survey were gaining income beyond the farm gate, many through renting out property, others through added value diversification or alternative employment.

"This confirms the findings of our farm results that an increasing proportion of income is being generated away from core farming results," said Mrs Anderson.

"However, we continue to stress the importance of doing what you do well and only looking to other sources of income if you have the skills to manage both core and peripheral businesses."

Cost of Your Time is available free from Sarah Anderson on 0113 292 1343 or e-mail, saranderson