MANY of the region's farmers are struggling to survive on earnings of less than £200 a week - half the national average wage.

New figures released yesterday showed the national average income per farm had dropped by nearly £3,000 to £9,500 a year and it could mean more farmers will be forced to sell up unless there is a dramatic improvement in their fortunes.

The continuing farming crisis was revealed at the annual conference of the farming group of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, held in Birmingham. The group reported overall farm profits down by 23pc with the average profit per acre now just £27, down £7 on the previous year.

In the dairy sector, the North-East was joint bottom with the South-East, suffering a 37pc drop in profits in the last 12 months, compared with a 4pc drop nationally, after slumps of 42pc and 52pc in the previous two years.

In the mixed sector, the North-East fared better, with a 54pc increase in profits, but that was less than half the 1999 figure and followed an 89pc fall two years ago.

Mr John McGrother, the ICAEW farming group's northern representative and a partner in Jewitts chartered accountants of Stockton, said: "Some farmers are going to face a stark choice - diversify or sell up." But even if they sold the farm, he said, they might struggle to buy somewhere else to live and to support their family.

He warned that the overall picture was "a steadily dripping tap of continuing decline."

The survey is based on accounts for the 12-month trading period ending on April 30 this year. It shows that more than half the farms surveyed were continuing to see profits fall, with one in five reporting a trading loss.

Mr Aubrey Davies, ICAEW farming group chairman, said more than half the farms surveyed were owner-occupied. "Most owner-occupiers are living off their capital and this simply cannot go on," he said. "These figures show once again the depth of the crisis."