DEFINITIONS

Agricultural area area utilised in the reference year by agricultural holdings for agricultural production or maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition (incl. arable land, permanent grassland, fruit and berry plantations, nurseries and kitchen gardens).

Area not utilised for agricultural production but only maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition is included from 2007.

Agricultural holding – a single unit both technically and economically, which has single management and which produces agricultural products or maintains its land which is no longer used for production purposes in good agricultural and environmental condition, where:

- there is at least one hectare of utilised agricultural land or

- there is less than one hectare of utilised agricultural land but agricultural products are produced mainly for sale.

Units where agricultural products are not produced but only land is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition are included from 2007.

Agricultural products – cereals, legumes, potatoes, fodder roots, linseed, flax fibre, plants used for seasoning and herbs, vegetables, vegetable plants, flowers, ornamental plants, fruits, berries, young plants of trees and bushes, (excl. young plants of forest trees grown on wooded land), livestock and poultry, meat, milk, eggs, wool, honey and wax.

Holder of the holding – a person who is legally and economically responsible for the holding. Holders are divided into natural or legal persons.

Location of the holding – location of the centre (if the centre is missing, the major part of the land) of the holding. The centre of the holding is the permanent place of residence of the holder or the place of main buildings within holding. All land and animals of the holding are showed in the location of the holding, which may differ from the location of land or animals.

Manure pits – dry manure pits, liquid manure pits and slime pits used by the holding during 12 months preceding the survey day.

Storage capacity of manure pit – the number of months the storage facilities can hold the manure produced on the holding, without any risk of run-off, and without any occasional emptying.

METHODOLOGY

The Farm Structure Survey (hereinafter FSS) provides information of the structure of agriculture and its changes. Different from other agricultural statistics surveys, FSS provides data for the whole agricultural holding, besides the structure of holdings it provides also information about type of ownership of agricultural land, crop production and livestock farming, main indicators of organic farming, agricultural training of managers of holdings, types of farming in holdings and other gainful activities of holdings, tractors and machinery and labour force. Since 1966 the series of farm structure surveys are carried out on a Community basis at least every ten years in a form of a census and between the censuses usually in a form of a sample survey.

Statistics Estonia conducted the first Agricultural Census in July 2001. To determine the agricultural production potential for Estonia, the Agricultural Census covered agricultural holdings with the lower threshold than required in the methodology developed by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) as well as agricultural small units. Besides the needs of the Estonian users, the requirements established to the European Union FSS were taken into account. The FSS 2003, 2005 and 2007 were conducted as sample surveys and 2010 survey in the form of a census. The new threshold of the agricultural holding has been used and agricultural small units have not been included. In order to ensure the comparability of their data with the results of the 2001 Agricultural Census, the latter have been recalculated and adjusted on the basis of the new definition of a holding. In case the relevant data were not collected in the 2001 Agricultural Census or their definitions differ significantly from those used in the following FSSs, the comparison is not presented.

In sample based FSSs the sample frame has been the updated statistical Farm Register, which was composed on the basis of the 2001 Agricultural Census data. A simple random sample stratified by the county where the holding is located, economic size and type of farming has been used. All the data presented are estimates of actual parameters. The list of the 2010 Agricultural Census has been composed on the basis of statistical Farm Register, Administrative Registers and Information Board, Organic Farming Register and other administrative sources.

MORE DATA

Põllumajanduslikud majapidamised. 2005. Agricultural holdings

OTHER INFORMATION

The survey has received funding from the European Community.

The Commission of the European Communities is not responsible for the results of the survey or any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

CONTACT PERSON

Andres Klaus

Agricultural Statistics Department

Tel +372 625 9390

andres.klaus@stat.ee

Updated: 15.12.2011