Agricultural Census
The core structural data of the agricultural census are the location of the holding, legal form, 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, animal housing and manure management. | |
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, agricultural holding was a single unit both technically and economically, which had single management and which produced agricultural products or maintained its land in good agricultural and environmental condition and where: - there was at least one hectare of utilised agricultural land or; - there was less than one hectare of utilised agricultural land and agricultural products are produced mainly for sale. From 2020, agricultural holding is a single unit both technically and economically, where there is at least: - 5 hectares of utilized 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. Units where agricultural products are not produced but land is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition are included as agricultural units from 2007. Utilised agricultural area – area utilised in the survey year by agricultural holdings for agricultural production or maintained in good agricultural and environmental conditions (incl. arable land, permanent grassland, fruit and berry plantations, nurseries and kitchen gardens). 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 fodder plants (all green arable crops intended for animal feed, grown in rotation with other arable crops and occupying the same land for less than five years) – temporary grass, maize and other forage plants (including cereals and legumes harvested green); - 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 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. 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 transplantation; commercial forest-tree nurseries, whether in woodland or outside, are included. Excluded are non-commercial nurseries of forest trees in woodland. 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. 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 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 which 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 Agricultural 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 be labelled as organic yet. 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. Organic fertiliser – organic matter added in the soil as fertiliser. Standard output – monetary value of gross agricultural production at farm-gate prices 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 standard output of a holding, the holding is considered to be a specialist holding, otherwise it is engaged in mixed farming. Labour input in annual work units (AWU) – agricultural work in the holding during 12 months for 1,800 hours. | |
Agricultural holding | |
Agricultural holdings FRAME List of agricultural holdings above threshold. List is generated from the statistical register of agricultural holdings. | |
Estonia as a whole County | |
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2020 | |
Not applicable |
Area – ha Agricultural holdings, animals, poultry and colonies of bees, employed persons – number Working time – annual work unit (AWU) Animal housing – place Grazing, manure storage – month Manure and other fertilisers – tonne, m3 Total livestock production for all species of livestock – livestock unit (LSU) Standard output of the holding (economic size) – euro |
DIRECTLY APPLICABLE LEGAL ACTS 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) 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) 2018/1874 of 29 November 2018 on the data to be provided for 2020 under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011, as regards the list of variables and their description OTHER LEGAL ACTS NO_ENGLISH_VALUE OTHER AGREEMENTS UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. | |
The treatment of confidential data is regulated by the Procedure for Protection of Data Collected and Processed by Statistics Estonia (in Estonian). See more details on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section Õigusaktid. |
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. |
Press releases will be decided on an ongoing 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 table: PMS041: Livestock and poultry of agricultural holdings PMS042: Livestock farming of agricultural holdings by administrative unit 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 table: PMS141: Land use of agricultural holdings PMS142: Utilised agricultural area and crops of agricultural holdings PMS143: Utilised agricultural area by size class PMS144: Main indicators of crop farming of agricultural holdings by administrative unit 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 and under the subject area “Economy / Agriculture / Structure of agricultural holdings / General data” in the following table: 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 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 | |
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. | |
Data serve as input for statistical activities 21207 “Economic accounts for agriculture” and 21214 “Crop production”. | |
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) 2018/1874 of 29 November 2018 on the data to be provided for 2020 under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011, as regards the list of variables and their description. 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) | |
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is compiled 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 § 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 Rural Affairs Ministry of the Environment | |
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. | |
In compliance with the rules (regulations) |
The type of survey and the data collection methods ensure sufficient coverage and timeliness. | |
Error due to probability sampling is estimated for all important published indicators. Sampling errors are within the range required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of The European Parliament and of the Council. | |
An effort is made to reduce non-sampling errors through continuous methodological improvements and survey process improvements, incl. through minimizing under- and over-coverage of the frame. |
The data are in general comparable to the data of other Member States of the European Union because a common methodology is used. The basic data of the agricultural census should cover at least 98% of the utilised agricultural area and 98% of livestock farming in terms of livestock units in all countries. The countries should generally cover all entities above the agreed threshold for holdings with respect to the basic agricultural census data, but the holdings threshold may be changed if necessary, taking into account the required coverage rate. For agricultural census modules, the agreed threshold for holdings shall not be lowered. Indicators and their definitions are harmonised between the countries. Data on Estonia are comparable across counties. | |
From 2020, a new threshold for agricultural holdings is used in the agricultural census across the European Union, making the data not directly comparable to previous years. Until 2020, agricultural holdings were those units which had at least one hectare of utilised agricultural land or where agricultural produce was mainly produced 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. Archive. These data are comparable with 2020 data only if they are recalculated by using the threshold set by the European Parliament and Council regulation (EU) 2018/1091. | |
The agricultural census data are comparable to the data of farm structure surveys conducted every three-four years because the same common methodology is used. Unlike agricultural production statistics and economic accounts, smaller units than agricultural holdings are not covered in the agricultural censuses and sample surveys on farm structure. The agricultural census data are closely linked to other statistics in the field of agriculture and are comparable for agricultural holdings. Cross-sectoral coherence is ensured by using the same indicators from different sources. In the years when agricultural census is carried out, these data serve as input for crop production statistics. The agricultural census uses data from the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) as input for sown area and number of livestock. The input for organic farming data is the data of the organic farming register of the Estonian Agricultural Board. The labour force survey methodology of agricultural censuses differs from the general methodology of the labour force survey. | |
The internal consistency of the data is ensured by the use of a common methodology for data collection and data aggregation. |
The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics of 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 population includes 11,369 objects. The sample size for the 2020 modules is 4,798. ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Data on land use and data on aids are received from the register of agricultural support and land parcels of the Estonian Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB). Data on manure management are also received from ARIB. Data on organic farming are received from the register of organic farming of the Agricultural 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 persons employed (by working time groups) is received from the employment register of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES Not applicable | |
The agricultural census covers all agricultural holdings above the threshold. Total population is used for the collection of core structural data and sample survey for the data of modules. Data are collected through the web channel for electronic data submission and by phone interviews. 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 the website of Statistics Estonia in the section Questionnaires. Administrative data are received by channels agreed within 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. | |
In the case of sample surveys, weights are calculated for statistical units and are used to expand the data 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. The data of non-responded agricultural units in the total population stratum are replaced with administrative data, data of the previous period or similar holding, or post-stratification is used. Variables which were not collected but which are necessary for producing the output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion 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 calculating various statistical measures, e.g. mean. The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional variables. | |
Not applied |