Farmers used an average of 15% of their incomes last year to pay interest on debts, a new report reveals. The Farm Business Survey, compiled by a group of researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Reading, Askham Bryan and Duchy College, found that total debts per farm averaged A 188,500, with 14% of farms forced to either increase their borrowings or sell assets to cover the interest payments.