Archive:Farm structure in Czech Republic - 2007 results
- Data from July 2008. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article is part of a series of country-specific essays on the results of the European Union (EU) Farm structure survey (FSS) 2007. It provides a brief but nevertheless comprehensive insight into farm structure in Czech Republic.
The 2007 FSS recorded 39 400 agricultural holdings in Czech Republic, which represents a 7 % decrease since 2005. This drop is mainly related to a decrease in the number of small farms.
Main statistical findings
The average area per agricultural holding is 135 hectares
In 2007, about 25 900 agricultural holdings in Czech Republic had an economic size of at least one European size unit (ESU), compared to 26 800 in 2005.
These farms made use of 3.5 million hectares (ha) of utilised agricultural area (UAA), which makes the average size of a holding in Czech Republic 135 ha ( compared to 132 ha in 2005). See Figure 1 for the distribution of UAA in terms of farm size, while Table 2 describes the size distribution and other characteristics of the agricultural holdings.
These holdings employed 128 600 annual work units (AWUs), the equivalent of 128 600 people working full time, a decrease of 10 % since 2005. The organisation and distribution of the labour force in Czech Republic is described in Figure 2 and Table 1.
The farms contained 2.04 million livestock units (LSU) in 2007, 1 % less than in 2005. The distribution of livestock by farm size is shown in Table 4 and Figure 3.
Amongst the 25 900 agricultural holdings in 2007:
- 32 % made use of less than one AWU, while another 30 % made use of two or more AWUs;
- 58 % used less than 20 ha, while 25 % used 50 ha or more;
- 49 % specialised in crops;
- 19 % were specialists in cereals, oil seed and protein crops;
- 15 % were engaged in general field cropping;
- 13 % were specialists in field crops and grazing livestock combined.
Amongst the sole holders:
- 16 % were women in 2007 (compared to 15 % in 2005);
- 42 % were aged 55 or more and 12 % were younger than 35 years;
- 40 % had another gainful activity in 2007.
In the Czech Republic in 2007, 16 % of the agricultural area was owned by farmers.
The AWU of family labour force was stable from 2005 to 2007 but the number of family members (number of persons) participating in agricultural work increased during this period. The overall number of family members working on the holding rose by 25 % and in particular the number of spouses increased by 42 %.
216 000 ha (6.2 % of the utilised agricultural area), were organically farmed (compared to 5.5 % in 2005).The number of holdings with organic farming area increased by 25%, and the area rose by 10 %. On average a Czech organic farm has 300 ha. Details of land use by size of farm are given in Table 3.
The irrigated area (irrigated once a year) in the Czech Republic increased by 15 % from 2005 to 2007, but it remains only 0.6 % of the UAA.
The number of farms with another gainful activity other than agricultural production rose from 14 % in 2005, to 15 % in 2007. The situation for subsistence farming in the Czech Republic is outlined in Table 5.
Data sources and availability
Due to the different coverage of the FSS across Member States, the total number of farms is not comparable between countries. This is why the present analysis, including Tables 1-4 and the figures focus on holdings of at least one European size unit.
The 2007 survey on the structure of agricultural holdings in the Czech Republic was carried out with the 30 September 2007 as reference day. The reference period for labour force covers the preceding 12 months. This survey is the third of a series of sample FSS carried out in the Czech Republic, the others were held in 2003 and 2005, after the "Agrocensus 2000", which subsequently served as the basis for the Farm Register.
In the Czech Republic an agricultural holding, follows the European Union's definition with some additional thresholds. In some specific municipalities the standard gross margin (SGM) has to be at least 600 000 Czech Crowns (CZK), about 22 000 Euro. In the other municipalities they must meet one of the following conditions: 1ha under UAA, 1500 m2 under intensive crops, 1000 m2 under vineyard, 300 m2 under greenhouses, 1 cattle, 2 pigs, 4 sheep or goats,50 poultry, 100 rabbits or fur animals.
The target population was all holdings included in the farm register and the newly established ones taken from the Business Register or from the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS).
The FSS used a combination of exhaustive and stratified sample. The sampling was exhaustive in units with a legal personality and all of the ones held by natural persons and which SGM reaches 600 000 CZK (7916 holdings).
The other farms were sampled using strata defined by agricultural production areas (defined in the Czech Republic by geographical indicators, mainly altitude and natural conditions) and the administrative divisions called the basic territorial units (ZUJ) that are identical with municipalities with the exception of some towns where ZUJ include city districts. These basic territorial units were randomly sampled in each stratum until the sample-weight reached 70% of the total agricultural SGM of the strata. A total of 4 514 basic territorial units (including 30 571 holdings) from o total of 6 382 were integrated in the sample. The whole sample, including the new units taken from administrative sources, consisted of 49 710 agricultural holdings.
The response rate for the surveys was 61%. The overcoverage error was 39 %, mainly related with holdings that have suspended their agricultural activity or with units that were not engaged in agricultural activities but were registered in the Business Register or the LPIS.
Between FSS 2005 and 2007 "maintaining land in good agricultural and environmental conditions" (GAEC) became an agricultural activity and the concerned land has been included in the agricultural area. In the Czech Republic it covers around 18 400 ha, being 88% in farms with at least 1 ESU.
For each activity (`enterprise`) on a farm (for instance wheat, dairy cow or vineyard), a Standard Gross Margin (SGM) is estimated, based on the area (or the number of heads) and a regional coefficient. The sum of such margins in a farm is its economic size, expressed in European size units (ESU, 1 ESU is a 1200-euro SGM).
An annual work unit (AWU) is equivalent to a worker employed on a full time basis for one year. In the Czech Republic it is 1800 hours (225 working days of 8 working hours per day).
Context
European Commission rural development policy aims to improve competitiveness in agriculture and forestry, improve the environment and countryside, improve the quality of life in rural areas and encourage the diversification of rural economies.
As agriculture has modernised and the importance of industry and services within the economy has increased, so agriculture has become much less important as a source of jobs. Consequently, increasing emphasis is placed on the role farmers can play in rural development, including forestry, biodiversity, the diversification of the rural economy to create alternative jobs and environmental protection in rural areas.
The FSS continues to adapt to provide timely and relevant data to help analyse and follow these developments.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Farm Structure Survey in Czech Republic - 2007 - Statistics in focus 86/2008
- National Methodological Report – FSS 2007 Czech Republic (available on request)
Main tables
- Agriculture, see:
- Farm structure: historical data (1990-2007) (t_ef)
Database
- Agriculture, see:
- Farm structure (ef)
Dedicated section
- Ad-hoc tables: Farm Structure Survey
Methodology / Metadata
- Farm structure (ESMS metadata file — ef_esms)