Farm Structure Survey 2005

The survey was carried out using a combination of exhaustive and sample methods. The previous fullscale agricultural census was conducted in 2001. The target population was all economically active farms which produce agricultural products; indeed some holdings may provide other supplementary (non-agricultural) products and services. These holdings are included in the regularly updated statistical farm register. The frame was stratified by activity (active, non-active and new or unobserved units), location (NUTS4 level), by economic size (4 categories of ESU for active farms, 7 categories in UAA for other ones) and by type of farming (3 groups; only for active farms). For non-active farms owned by natural person a 10 hectare agricultural land threshold was applied. In practice all holdings have an economic size of at least 2 ESU and units with specific processes in production were included, while from the other strata sample was drawn randomly. Altogether 60 thousand holdings were chosen to be surveyed.

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 equal to 1200
euros. Each farm is classified in the community typology by its economic size and its type of farming, depending on the share of each enterprise in its economic size. For instance, a farm where breeding sows account for more than 2/3 of the economic size is classified as specialist pig rearing (type 5011). Depending on the level of aggregation, farms are grouped into 8 to 70 types.