Archive:Farm structure in Finland - 2007 results
- Data from November 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 Finland.
The 2007 FSS recorded 68 200 agricultural holdings in Finland, which represents a 3 % decrease since 2005.
Main statistical findings
51% of the utilised agricultural area under cereals
In 2007, about 66 600 agricultural holdings in Finland had an economic size of at least one European size unit, compared to 70 000 in 2005.
These farms made use of 2.29 million hectares (ha) of utilised agricultural area (UAA), (1 % more than in 2005), which makes the average size of a holding in Finland 34 ha (compared with 32 ha in 2005). See Graph 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 67 400 annual work units (AWUs), the equivalent of 67 400 people working full time, a decrease of 14 % since 2005. The organisation and distribution of the labour force in Finland is described in Graph 2 and Table 1.
The farms contained 1.15 million livestock units (LSU) in 2007, 0.5 % less than in 2005. The distribution of livestock by farm size is shown in Table 4 and Graph 3.
Amongst the 66 600 agricultural holdings in 2007:
- 53 % made use of less than one AWU, while another 21 % made use of two or more AWUs;
- 2 % used less than 2 ha, while 21 % used 50 ha or more;
- 64 % of Finish farms specialised in crops (an increase of 3 % from 2005);
- 37 % were specialists in cereals, oil seed and protein crops;
- 23 % were specialists in general field cropping (an increase of 4 % from the last survey);
- 18 % of the holdings were engaged in dairy farming (3 % less than in 2005).
Amongst the sole holders:
- 11 % were women in 2007;
- 36 % were aged 55 or more and 9 % were younger than 35 years; and
- 41 % had another gainful activity in 2007.
In Finland in 2007, 66 % of the agricultural area was farmed by its owners.
The family labour force made up 89 % of the total labour force in Finland and decreased by 15 % from 2005 to 2007.
The area farmed under organic production methods increased by 9 % from 2005. The nearly 130 000 ha of land used for organic farming accounted for 6 % of the UAA in Finland. Details of land use by size of farm are given in Table 3.
Economically, the farms in Finland suffered a fall: the total amount of ESU dropped 7 % from 2005 to 2007.
The situation for subsistence farming in Finland 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 graphs focus on holdings of at least one European size unit (ESU).
The Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (IC/MAF), in collaboration with Statistics Finland, implemented the 2007 survey on the structure of agricultural holdings in Finland. The reference dates for the FSS were for arable land summer 2007, for livestock the reference year 2007 and the days vary (1 April for poultry, horses and pigs; 1 May for cattle and 1 June for sheep and goats), for the labour force September 2006 to August 2007 and for other gainful activities the year 2007. This was the sixth FSS carried out in Finland complying with EU legislation.
The definition of an agricultural holding used in the Finish FSS includes all enterprises that use at least one hectare or one livestock unit, or horticultural units that, in spite of not meeting the 1 ha threshold, produce for sale. The farms producing only for own consumption are not included. Unlike the previous surveys, FSS 2007 no longer took into account the 1 ESU threshold, but this change in methodology does not have a significant influence on the number of farms in the population.
The sample frame included around 71 200 holdings within the Farm Register, the Horticultural Enterprise Register or the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS). These administrative sources use a common holding identifier and are annually updated.
There were 2 main sources of information for this survey:
- the administrative data (that covers most of the data on land use, crop areas and livestock) taken from the Farm Register, the Horticultural Enterprise Register and IACS covering exhaustively all the holdings;
- the sample survey on labour force, other gainful activities and irrigable area (among other characteristics defined at national level) that was conducted through telephone interviews (during the autumn 2007) and in some cases through an internet form.
The sample used for the telephone interviews was selected using the Neymann allocation method with three variables: regions (20), farm types (7) and economic sizes (4 to 6 depending on the farm type). The sample size covered close to half of the initial population (35 500 holdings).
For the online questionnaire around 500 holdings where selected randomly amongst farmers with electronic codes (they were not included in the telephone sample). This process was a test for the data collection method for the future 2010 Census.
There was some over coverage registered in the telephone survey (mainly due to farms that ceased production). The non-response in the 2007 FSS in Finland was 3.3 % for the telephone survey. For the online survey only 23 % of the farmers responded (because of the voluntary and experiment character of this method).
The total number of sheep increased by 36 % from 2005 to 2007 this increase is partly related to the improvement of the data collection on lamb and sheep. On holdings with this type of livestock the average number of sheep grew from 51 to 65 heads.
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 Finland such grassland covers close to 4 700 ha, 82 % in holdings with at least 1 ESU.
For each activity (`enterprise`) on a farm (for instance wheat, dairy cow or vineyard), a standard gross margin 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 Finland it is 1800 hours (225 working days of 8 working hours per day).
A livestock unit (LSU) is equivalent to a dairy cow. The number of animals (number of heads) is converted into LSU using a set of coefficients reflecting the feed requirements of the different animal categories.
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 Finland - 2007 - Statistics in focus 2/2009
- National Methodological Report – FSS 2007 Finland (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)