Farming in the UK has been experiencing a period of rapid and radical change. This uncomfortable process is the outcome of a sustained period of economic growth that has changed the role of farming within the economy and the food supply chain. It has also reshaped public attitudes to the industry, from gratitude for greater assurance of food supply to anxiety about the impact of farming systems upon the safety of food, the environment and animal welfare. The growth in global population together with rising real incomes will certainly demand massive increases in food production but it seems improbable that this will realistically lead to a situation in which farm gate prices in the UK will rise greatly. More realistically farmers will have to adapt to more regulation and greater exposure to markets. Not all will choose or be able to respond in the same way. The paper discriminates between three broad types, commercial farmers, lifestyle farmers and residual farmers. Farmers need to think dispassionately about which of these types, if any, might correspond to their future in farming and plan their investment strategies accordingly. [Taken from journal abstract].