Farm Structure Survey
Statistical activity code: 21208
The core structural data of the Farm Structure Survey are the location of the holding, legal form, manager, land use, number of livestock, and other general data. The modules connected with the core structural data are labour force and other gainful activities, rural development, tillage practices, and machinery and equipment. | |
Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK) Classification of Use of Agricultural Land Classification of agricultural holdings based on the types of agricultural production | |
Agricultural holdings | |
Agricultural holding – until 2019 inclusive, agricultural holding was a single unit, both technically and economically, that has a single management and that produces agricultural products or maintains its land in good agricultural and environmental condition and where: - there is at least one hectare of utilised agricultural area or - there is less than one hectare of utilised agricultural area and agricultural products are produced mainly for sale. From 2020, agricultural holding is a single unit, both technically and economically, that has a single management and where there is at least: - 5 hectares of utilised agricultural area or - 2 hectares of arable land or - 0.5 hectares of potatoes or - 0.5 hectares of outdoor vegetables and strawberries or - 0.2 hectares of aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, flowers, seeds, outdoor tree nurseries or - 0.3 hectares of fruit and berry plantations, other permanent outdoor crops or - 0.1 ha of outdoor grapevines or - 100 m2 of greenhouses or - 1.7 livestock units of animals. Units where agricultural products are not produced but land is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition are considered as agricultural holdings from 2007. Utilised agricultural area – area utilised in the survey year for agricultural production or maintained in good agricultural and environmental conditions (incl. arable land, permanent grassland, fruit and berry plantations, nurseries, and kitchen gardens). Land not used for agricultural production but maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition is included in agricultural area from 2007. Arable land – land worked regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation. Arable land consists of: - area under cereals (wheat, rye, triticale, barley, oats, mixed grain, buckwheat) for the production of dry grain - area under dry pulses (peas, field beans and lupins, other dry pulses, including mixture of cereals and dry pulses) for the production of dry grain - area under potatoes - area under fodder roots (excluding seeds) - area under industrial crops (rape and turnip rape, linseed, flax, aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, other industrial crops) - area under fresh vegetables, outdoor or under low (non-accessible) cover - area under flowers and ornamental plants, outdoor or under low (non-accessible) cover - area under fresh vegetables under glass or high (accessible) cover (crops which for the whole of the period of growth or for the predominant part of it are covered by greenhouses or fixed or mobile high cover (glass or rigid or flexible plastic)) - area under flowers and ornamental plants under glass or high (accessible) cover (crops which for the whole of the period of growth or for the predominant part of it are covered by greenhouses or fixed or mobile high cover (glass or rigid or flexible plastic)) - area under annual forage crops (cereals, maize, dry pulses, rape and turnip rape, other annual forage crops) - area under multiannual forage crops (leguminous plants and grasses for hay, silage or grazing, grown in temporary grassland in rotation with other arable crops and occupying the same land for a maximum of five years) - area under forage crops seeds - fallow land — land left to recover, normally for the whole of a crop year (bare land and green fallow). Permanent grassland – land used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage naturally (self-seeded) or through cultivation (sown), and that has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more. It may include other species suitable for grazing, provided that the grasses or other herbaceous forage remain predominant. Fruit and berry plantation – area for growing fruits and berries (incl. forest berries). Nursery – area of young ligneous (woody) plants, fruit trees, berry bushes or ornamental young plants grown in the open air (incl. greenhouses) for subsequent planting in gardens, parks, etc; commercial forest-tree nurseries, whether in woodland or outside, are included. Excluded are non-commercial nurseries of forest trees in woodland. Kitchen garden – area separated from the rest of the holding’s agricultural land, devoted to the cultivation of agricultural products for the consumption by persons living on the holding (only occasional surplus products are sold). Decorative gardens (parks and lawns) are not included. Livestock unit (LSU) – a standard measurement unit that allows the aggregation of various species of livestock and poultry. Livestock units are defined on the basis of the feed requirements of individual animal categories. A dairy cow corresponds to one livestock unit, the coefficients of other animals are smaller (e.g. bovine animal – 0.8; fattening pig – 0.3; broiler – 0.007). The coefficients of livestock units are stated with EU Parliament and Council regulation No 2018/1091. Organic farming – sustainable production of agricultural produce, which maintains basic equilibrium, is environmentally sustainable, and is carried out in compliance with the Organic Farming Act and other relevant legislation. Holdings with organic farm production have the approval of the Estonian Agriculture and Food Board (either fully compliant with the principles of organic production or still in a conversion period). Conversion period – transition from non-organic to organic farming, within a given time period, during which the provisions concerning organic production are applied. During that period, the production cannot yet be labelled as organic. Fully converted – agricultural area and/or livestock which has passed the fixed conversion period from non-organic to organic farming, during which the provisions concerning organic production were and will be continuously applied. After the conversion period, the production can be labelled as organic. Standard output – the monetary value of gross agricultural production at farm-gate price corresponding to the average situation of any agricultural activity, which is calculated on the basis of crop area, number of livestock, and standard output coefficients. Type of farming – determined on the basis of the share of standard output. If the share of one activity is at least two thirds of the holding’s standard output, the holding is considered to be a specialist holding, otherwise it is engaged in mixed farming. Labour input in annual work units (AWU) – at least 1,800 hours of agricultural work on the holding over a 12-month period. | |
Agricultural holding | |
Agricultural holdings FRAME List of agricultural holdings above the threshold. The list is generated from the statistical register of agricultural holdings. | |
Estonia as a whole | |
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2020 | |
Not applicable |
DIRECTLY APPLICABLE LEGAL ACTS Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011 (Text with EEA relevance.) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/405 of 16 March 2020 specifying the arrangements for, and contents of, the quality reports to be transmitted under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics (Text with EEA relevance) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2286 of 16 December 2021 on the data to be provided for the reference year 2023 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics as regards the list of variables and their description and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 1200/2009 (Text with EEA relevance) COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/220 of 3 February 2015 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union OTHER LEGAL ACTS Not available OTHER AGREEMENTS Not available |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 34 and § 35 of the Official Statistics Act. | |
The handling of confidential data is regulated by the Procedure for Protection of Data Collected and Processed by Statistics Estonia. More information is available on Statistics Estonia's website at Legal acts. |
Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month). | |
All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar. |
The production of news releases is decided on a rolling basis. | |
Not published | |
Data are published in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat under the subject area “Economy / Agriculture / Structure of agricultural holdings / Livestock farming” in the following tables: PMS041: Livestock and poultry of agricultural holdings PMS043: Cattle and dairy cows by size class of herd PMS044: Sheep by size class of herd PMS045: Pigs by size class of herd, under the subject area “Economy / Agriculture / Structure of agricultural holdings / Crop farming” in the following tables: PMS141: Land use of agricultural holdings PMS142: Utilised agricultural area and crops of agricultural holdings PMS143: Utilised agricultural area by size class PMS145: Growing of cereals by size class of sown area PMS146: Growing of dry pulses by size class of sown area PMS147: Growing of potatoes by size class of sown area PMS148: Growing of rape and turnip rape by size class of sown area PMS149: Growing of outdoor vegetables and strawberries by size class of sown area PMS150: Fruit and berry plantations for sales production by size class of sown area, under the subject area “ Economy / Agriculture / Structure of agricultural holdings / Labour force” in the following tables: PMS241: Agricultural labour force by legal form of holder, county and kind of labour force PMS242: Agricultural permanent labour force by sex, working time and kind of labour force PMS243: Agricultural holdings with other gainful activity by kind of activity PMS244: Agricultural holdings with other gainful activity by share of activities PMS245: Labour force with other gainful activity related to holding in holdings of natural person PMS246: Labour force with other gainful activity not related to holding in holdings of natural person and under the subject area “Economy / Agriculture / Structure of agricultural holdings / General data” in the following tables: PMS441: Agricultural holdings by legal form of holder and county PMS442: Key variables of agricultural holdings by economic size PMS443: Agricultural holdings by economic size and type of farming PMS444: Other general data of agricultural holdings by legal form of holder and county PMS445: Agricultural holdings by kind of manager PMS446: Agricultural holdings by year classified as a farm manager PMS447: Agricultural holdings by agricultural training of manager PMS448: Managers by sex and age group PMS449: Managers by sex and working time PMS450: Agricultural holdings having benefitted support for rural development during three years by kind of support | |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 34, § 35, § 36, § 37, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes: http://www.stat.ee/dokumendid/51669. | |
Data serve as input for statistical activities 21207 “Economic accounts for agriculture”, 21209 “Statistical Register of Agricultural Holdings” and 21214 “Crop farming”. | |
Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 OF the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/2286 of 16 December 2021 on the data to be provided for the reference year 2023 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics as regards the list of variables and their description and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 1200/2009 | |
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is prepared describing the methodology applied and the quality achieved. |
To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act. | |
Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions. |
The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient coverage and timeliness of the data collected. | |
The error due to probability sampling is estimated for all the important published indicators. Sampling errors are within the range required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council. | |
The aim is to reduce non-sampling errors through continous methodological and survey process improvements, incl. minimizing under- and over-coverage of the frame. |
The data are comparable with the data of other European Union countries. | |
From 2020, a new threshold for agricultural holdings is used in the Farm Structure Survey across the European Union, making the data not directly comparable with data from previous years. Until 2020, agricultural holdings were defined as units with at least 1 ha of utilised agricultural land, or with agricultural production mainly for sale. Data up to 2016 are available in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat under Discontinued datasets / Economy. Archive / Agriculture. | |
The Farm Structure Survey data are comparable with the data of agricultural censuses conducted every ten years because the same methodology is used. Unlike agricultural production statistics and economic accounts, the agricultural censuses and sample surveys on farm structure do not include units smaller than agricultural holdings. However, the Farm Structure Survey data are closely linked to other agricultural statistics and are comparable in terms of agricultural holdings. Cross-sectoral coherence is ensured by using the same indicators from different sources. In the years when the Farm Structure Survey is carried out, these data serve as input for crop production statistics. For the Farm Structure Survey and agricultural census, data from the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) are used as input for sown area and number of livestock. The input for organic farming data is the data from the organic farming register of the Agriculture and Food Board. The methodology of the labour force survey within the Farm Structure Surveys differs from the general Labour Force Survey methodology. | |
The internal coherence of the data is ensured through the use of a common methodology for data collection and aggregation. |
The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics. | |
The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available. |
SURVEY DATA The number of units in the population is estimated at around 11,000. The number of units in the sample is still being specified. ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Data on land use and subsidies are received from the register of agricultural support and land parcels of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB). Data on farm animals are received from the register of farm animals of ARIB. Data on organic farming are received from the register of organic farming of the Agriculture and Food Board. Data on other land use of agricultural holdings are received from the land cadastre of the Land Board. The number of male and female employees by working time group is received from the employment register of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Data on tractors and combine harvesters are received from the traffic register. Data on the use of equipment for the production of renewable energy are received from Elering, an electricity and gas transmission system operator in Estonia. DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES Not used | |
Over three or four years | |
Data are collected through the web channel for electronic data submission (CAWI) and by phone interviews (CATI). From the agricultural holdings who do not submit their data on the web, the data are collected by phone interviews. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Questionnaires. Administrative data are received through the channels agreed in the relevant contracts. | |
Arithmetic and qualitative controls are used in the validation process, including comparison with the data of previous periods, other surveys and administrative data sources. | |
A weight is calculated for a statistical unit, which is used to expand the data of the sample survey to the total population. The data of the sampled agricultural holdings are expanded to the population separately in each stratum. The expansion factor is the ratio of the population of the respective stratum to the number of responded units. In the case of missing or unreliable data, estimate imputation based on established regulations is used. Variables that were not directly collected but are required for output generation are calculated. To calculate new variables, arithmetic conversions are applied to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly, the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived new variables. Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes summation of data according to the classification and calculation of various statistical measures, e.g. mean. The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes the calculation of additional indicators. | |
Not applicable |