Crop farming

The data on the sown areas, yield and production of crops serve as input for the market organisation of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP). The data on fertilisers are used in the development of agricultural and environmental policies and measures, including those related to the Nitrates Directive, the Water Framework Directive, and HELCOM’s Baltic Sea Action Plan. The data from this statistical activity are also used in the compilation of the Estonian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Utilised agricultural area is an indicator of the Estonian Agriculture and Fisheries Strategy 2030 (AFS 2030). Crop farming indicators are among the context indicators planned in the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027.

Utilised agricultural area, sown area and harvested area of crops, production and yield of crops (database table PM0281). For sown areas, production and yield of crops, preliminary estimates and final data are published separately;
crop production per capita (database table PM061);
area fertilised with organic, mineral, lime fertiliser, quantity of nutrients in mineral fertilisers and quantity of lime fertiliser used, quantity of nutrients in manure (database tables PM064, PM065, PM069 and PM0646);
amount of seed and certified seed used for sowing (database table PM043);
estimated area of autumn sowings of winter crops (database table PM030);
utilised organic agricultural area, sown area of organic crops, fruit and berry plantations, production of organic crops (database table PM071).

Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK);

Classification of Use of Agricultural Land 2024

Agriculture

Agricultural holding – a unit with single technical and financial management which produces agricultural products or maintains its land in good agricultural and environmental condition and whose land use is registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) or which exceeds the threshold for agricultural holdings.
Until 2019, the threshold for agricultural holdings was:
- at least one hectare of utilised agricultural land or
- less than one hectare of utilised agricultural land, and agricultural products are produced mainly for sale.
From 2020, the threshold for agricultural holdings 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 vegetables and strawberries or
- 0.2 hectares of aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, flowers, seeds, nurseries or
- 0.3 hectares of fruit and berry plantations, other permanent crops (except nurseries) or
- 100 square metres of greenhouses or
- 1.7 livestock units.
From 2023, 0.1 hectares of outdoor grapevines were added to the threshold.
Units where agricultural products are not produced but land is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition are included as agricultural units from 2007.

Agricultural small unit – a unit which is smaller than an agricultural holding and whose land use is not registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB), where there is at least:
- 50 square metres of kitchen garden or three fruit trees or six berry bushes or
- 10 rabbits, 10 poultry or other agricultural animals or
- three swarms of bees.

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, and 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).

Certified organic products – agricultural products received from a fully converted organic agricultural area or certified organic livestock that can be labelled as fully organic

Certified seed – seed, the descent of which, the identity, purity and quality of the species and variety of which and the compliance of which with the plant health requirements has been assessed in accordance with internationally established requirements and the packaging of which has been sealed and marked under the supervision of the Agriculture and Food Board

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 be labelled as organic yet.

Fruit and berry plantation – area for growing fruits and berries (incl. forest berries, and fruits and berries grown in kitchen garden for own consumption)

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.

Harvested area – the part of the sowing area that was harvested in the reference year

Kitchen garden – land separated off from the rest of the holding, devoted to the cultivation of products for the consumption by persons living on the holding (only occasional surplus of products are sold). Decorative gardens (parks and lawns) are not included.

Liming – method of land improvement where lime fertilisers are added to acidic soil to reduce the acidity and improve the nutritional conditions of soil. Suitable local substances for liming: cement clinker dust, limestone meal, dolomite meal.

Livestock unit (LSU) – a standard measurement unit that allows the aggregation of various kinds 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 defined by Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Nursery – area of young ligneous (woody) plants, fruit trees, berry bushes or ornamental young plants grown in the open air (incl. greenhouses) for subsequent transplantation; commercial forest-tree nurseries, whether in woodland or outside, are included. Excluded are non-commercial nurseries of forest trees in woodland.

Organic farming – sustainable production of agricultural produce, which maintains basic equilibrium, is environmentally sustainable and which is carried out in compliance with the Organic Farming Act and other relevant legislation. Holdings with organic 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).

Organic fertiliser – organic matter added in the soil as fertiliser

Permanent grassland – land used to grow grass and other herbaceous crops, through cultivation (sown) or naturally (self-seeded), which is not included in the crop rotation for more than 5 years. Other species suitable for grazing may be included, provided that grasses or other herbaceous forage remain predominant.

Production – harvested production, incl. for own requirement (the yield of covered areas is the sum of yields from all sowings)

Sown area/area under cultivation – area under field crops

Sown seed – quantity of seed used in the reference year

Utilised agricultural area – area utilised in the reference year for agricultural production or maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition (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.

Yield – harvested production per hectare of sown area in the reference year.

Agricultural holding;

agricultural small unit;

organic farmer

Agricultural holdings with utilised agricultural area;

agricultural small units with utilised agricultural area

Estonia as a whole

1980–…

Not applicable

From 2025, the statistical activity on crop farming is carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1538 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards crop production statistics.

From 2026, fertiliser data are collected on the basis of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2212 of 3 September 2024.

Until 2024, the statistical activity was carried out on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 543/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 concerning crop statistics and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 837/90 and (EEC) No 959/93 (Text with EEA relevance).

None

News items can be viewed on Statistics Estonia's website in the section agriculture news.

The production of news releases is decided on a rolling basis.

Not published

Data are published in the statistical database under the subject area Economy/Agriculture / Agricultural production / Crop production in the following tables:

PM0281: Agricultural land and crops by county;

PM030: Autumn sowings of winter crops;

PM043: Seed used for sowing by type;

PM061: Crop production per capita,

PM064: Area fertilized with organic fertilizers;

PM0646: Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in livestock manure by county;

PM065: Use of mineral fertilizers for the production in the accounting year;

PM069: Liming in agricultural holdings;

PM071: Sown area and production of organic crops.

The database tables were viewed 5,095 times during 2025, 8,790 times in 2024, 6,486 times in 2023, 7,933 times in 2022, 6,541 times in 2021, 6,706 times in 2020, and 5,657 times in 2019.
Each table view is counted as a separate viewing. This is based on the database URLs, which show that the data have been selected and the table formed.

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 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.

The data are transferred to Eurostat via the data transmission program EDAMIS using a standardised template provided by Eurostat. Data on sown areas and production are transmitted to Eurostat several times a year: preliminary data on sown areas of crops exceeding the thresholds set by Eurostat in June and August of the reference year (N); sown area and production data in September and November of the reference year and in March of the year following the reference year (N + 1); final data on sown area and production and organic farming data in September of the year following the reference year (N + 1). Fertiliser data are transmitted to Eurostat once a year.

The data are also submitted to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in accordance with their questionnaires.

The data serve as input for other statistical activities. Crop farming data are used for ecosystem accounts, material flow accounts, economic accounts for agriculture, supply balance sheets of agricultural products, and the management of the statistical register of agricultural holdings.

The use of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers and the share of organic farmland are indicators of sustainable development based on the UN targets. Sustainable development indicators are also published in the Tree of Truth application of Statistics Estonia.

The metadata related to the statistical activity were viewed 96 times (1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025). This figure does not represent the number of viewers, as the metadata may have been viewed multiple times by a single user.

Annual Crop Statistics Handbook;

Organic Production Statistics Handbook

This statistical activity is guided by the European Statistics Code of Practice – revised edition, 2017.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is compiled every three years describing the methodology applied and level of precision achieved.

A summary of the quality report is published on Eurostat's website in the section Crop production.

This is a multisource process. Some of the data are collected directly from administrative registers, while some are collected with the survey questionnaire “Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance”. Data from other statistical activities are used as well.

For sown areas, data from the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) are used as input. From there, data on the sown area of agricultural crops by crop and by unit are obtained. Preliminary data for the ongoing year are received in June and final data in October. If possible, data from the e-field book are also used.
Organic farming data are compiled using data from the Agriculture and Food Board.
The quantities of active substances in mineral fertilisers used are obtained from the fertiliser use data in the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) database and are calculated on the basis of the index of variation.

The quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in livestock manure are calculated using as input data the numbers of livestock obtained from the livestock farming survey (along with the excretion coefficients from the Estonian University of Life Sciences).
Agricultural census and/or Farm Structure Survey provide data on greenhouse crops of agricultural holdings. In those years when an agricultural census or Farm Structure Survey is carried out, other specified data on sown areas and, where available, on fertiliser application areas obtained from these surveys are also used.
Data on agricultural household plots are also collected once every ten years as part of social surveys. Data from agricultural small units are used as input for crop farming throughout the period until new data become available.

Agricultural holdings data that are not available from administrative databases and cannot be calculated through models are collected annually with the questionnaire "Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance".
The target population of agricultural holdings includes all active holdings in the Farm Register. The samples are stratified by standard output groups. All holdings with a standard output of at least 350,000 euros are covered; for other holdings, simple random sampling is used.

In 2025, the target population of the survey consisted of 9,602 units and the sample comprised 1,196 units.

Year

Administrative data are received by email.

Data on agricultural holdings which are not available from administrative registers and cannot be calculated through models are collected with the annual official statistics questionnaire „Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance“. Data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through a web-based data submission self-service environment.
The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Questionnaires. The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in the self-service environment and include instructions and checks.

More information on the crop farming survey is available here.

The questionnaire is prefilled with data on sown area received from ARIB. For those who filled in the electronic field book in e-ARIB, the questionnaire was prefilled with the field book data (harvested areas, production, and area of autumn sowings of winter crops) as much as possible.

Arithmetic and qualitative checks are used in the validation process, including comparison with the data of previous periods or other surveys and with administrative data sources.

Preliminary estimates of sown areas are made based on the data of the register of agricultural support and land parcels of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB), using model-based calculations when necessary and adding the sown areas of agricultural household plots.
Preliminary production estimates are made in cooperation with an expert group, using ARIB data on sown areas and expert estimates of crop yields and other available information.

Final crop farming data are compiled based on ARIB data on sown areas and the crop farming survey, using model-based calculations when necessary and adding the sown areas of agricultural household plots. If possible, data from the e-field book are also used.

The quantities of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from mineral fertilisers are calculated on the basis of data collected in the Farm Accountancy Data Network of the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge and earlier data of Statistics Estonia. The quantities of mineral fertiliser and lime fertiliser applied to a fertilised area are calculated by dividing the quantity by the area fertilised.

Data on nutrients in livestock manure are calculated by multiplying the number of animals by the excretion coefficients for different livestock types. In the calculations, excretion coefficients defined in Regulation No. 71 of the Minister of Rural Affairs of 14 July 2014 (“Eri tüüpi sõnniku toitainete sisalduse arvestuslikud väärtused, sõnnikuhoidlate mahu arvutamise metoodika ja põllumajandusloomade loomühikuteks ümberarvutamise koefitsiendid”) are used.

Organic farming data are compiled using data from the Agriculture and Food Board.

Data on agricultural holdings which are not available from administrative registers and cannot be calculated through models are collected annually with the questionnaire “Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance”.

The target population of agricultural holdings includes all active holdings in the Farm Register. The samples are stratified by standard output groups. All holdings with a standard output of at least 350,000 euros are covered; for other holdings, simple random sampling is used.

Data about the sown areas of agricultural household plots are collected once every ten years; data on production are estimated based on the sown areas and average yields determined on the basis of data from agricultural household plots.

Aggregated data for the country are calculated by summing up the data of agricultural holdings, units whose land use is registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board, and agricultural household plots.

In the completely enumerated stratum, data of the non-responding units are imputed. For the areas, the ARIB data on sown areas are taken, and for the rest, the stratum averages are used. The stratum averages are also used for imputation in the case of indicator non-response.

For the questionnaire "Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance", weights are used. The weights are calculated in the non-completely enumerated strata by dividing the stratum size of the population by the stratum size of the sample.

The data collected are used to calculate the other required indicators.

The sown area of agricultural crops is based on ARIB land use data. To the areas of permanent crops, vegetables, flowers and nurseries, the areas outside ARIB collected with the questionnaire "Crop Farming and Grasslands Maintenance" are added.

Harvested areas, production areas of permanent crops, areas fertilised with organic and mineral fertilisers are calculated using the corresponding shares from the questionnaire. Yields are calculated by dividing the production by the sown area.

Seed used for sowing is calculated on the basis on sown areas and sowing rate. The quantity of certified seed is calculated using the percentage of certified seed used.

Crop production per capita is calculated by dividing the production quantities by the number of inhabitants.

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