Crop farming
Preliminary estimations of sown areas, harvest and yield of crops; utilised agricultural land, sown and harvested area of crops, production and yield of crops; crop production per person; utilised organic agricultural land, sown area of organic crops, fruit and berry plantations, production of crops in organic farming; area fertilised with organic fertiliser, area fertilised with mineral fertiliser, area fertilised with lime fertiliser and quantity of used lime fertiliser, quantity of nutrients in manure | |
Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK) | |
Agricultural holdings Agricultural small units | |
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 m2 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 holdings Agricultural small units | |
Agricultural holdings with utilised agricultural area FRAME List of agricultural holdings with utilised agricultural area. The list is generated from the statistical register of agricultural holdings. | |
Estonia as a whole Counties | |
1980–… | |
Not applicable |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in sections 32, 34, 35, 38 of the Official Statistics Act. | |
The dissemination of data collected for the production of official statistics is based on the requirements laid down in §§ 34 and 35 of the Official Statistics Act. The principles for treatment of confidential data can be found here. |
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. |
Not published | |
Not published | |
Data are published in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat under the subject area Economy / Agriculture / Agricultural production / Crop production in the following tables: PM0281: Agricultural land and crops by county; PM032: Autumn sowings of winter crops by county; PM061: Crop production per inhabitant; PM0645: Area fertilized with organic fertilizers by county; 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 dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in sections 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. | |
Data serve as input for statistical activities 10601 “Material flow accounts”, 21207 “Economic accounts for agriculture”, 21209 “Statistical register of agricultural holdings” and 21213 “Supply balance sheets of agricultural products”. | |
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 | |
Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 543/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is compiled every three years describing the methodology applied and level of precision 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 section 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. |
Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture | |
Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. All results are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section User surveys. | |
The methodology and organisation are in compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 543/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. |
Preliminary data on production are published by the end of September of the current year at the latest; final data on crop farming are usually published by the end of January of the following year (T+31 days). Data on the quantities of mineral fertilizers are published immediately after their receipt from the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge, roughly in November of the following year (T+334). | |
The data have been published at the time announced in the release calendar. |
The data on area under cultivation, production area, production and yield are comparable to data from other European Union countries because a common methodology is used. Data on Estonia are comparable across counties. | |
The data are comparable over time. Since 2015, the quantities of active substances in mineral fertilisers have been calculated using indices calculated on the basis of Farm Accounting Data Network (FADN) data on the consumption of fertilisers. | |
The data are closely linked to other agricultural statistics. Cross-sectoral coherence is ensured by using the same indicators from different sources. Crop production data are an input to economic accounts for agriculture. The data of the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) are used as input for areas under cultivation. In the years when Farm Structure Surveys and agricultural censuses are conducted, these data are an input to crop production statistics. For organic farming statistics, the data of the organic farming register of the Agriculture and Food Board serve as the main input. | |
The internal consistency of the data is ensured by the use of a common methodology for data collection and data aggregation. In the Eurostat database, only the data of agricultural holdings and units whose land use is registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) correspond to the Eurostat methodology. |
The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics on the website of Statistics Estonia. | |
The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available. |
SURVEY DATA The total population includes 9,732 objects. The crop farming sample size is 1,182. ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Data on the sown area of crops by type of crop and units are received from the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB). Data on organic farming are received from the register of organic farming of the Agriculture and Food Board. DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES Data from statistical activities 21216 “Survey of agricultural small units”, 21210 “Agricultural Census” and 21208 “Farm Structure Survey” are used. | |
Annual | |
Data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through eSTAT (the web channel for electronic data submission). The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in eSTAT and include instructions and checks. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section Questionnaires. Data are collected with the annual official statistics questionnaire “Crop farming and grasslands maintenance”. Administrative data are received by e-mail. | |
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 small units. 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 small units. Data on nutrients from used mineral fertilizers are compiled using model-based calculations, on the basis of nutrients data collected in the farm accountancy data network of the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge. 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 on the basis of data received 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 with the annual statistical survey “Crop farming and grasslands maintenance”. The total population of holdings includes all active holdings from 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 small units are collected at least 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 holdings. 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 small units. | |
Not applied |