A forecast rise in UK farmers' profitability has been described by the NFU as 'extremely fragile'.

The government's provisional estimate for Total Income from Farming (TIFF) in 2001, released yesterday, showed an 11 per cent increase in farmer wages.

Although the NFU welcomed the rise, it said the TIFF estimate concealed the low base from which it was calculated, and was still 72 per cent below 1995 levels.

The union added that the predicted increase was mainly the result of a desperately needed rise in milk prices, and to a lesser extent for potatoes and vegetables during 2001.

NFU president Ben Gill said: 'While this forecast rise is welcome, farm profitability remains at rock bottom and below sustainable levels.

'Farmers continue to leave the industry at an alarming rate, and, furthermore, the short-term recovery in milk prices looks set to be cruelly reversed in the light of falling farmgate prices.' He added that one of the key elements in the long-term agricultural depression remained the over-valuation of sterling against the euro.