Other business activities the most common on farms in Lapland and Uusimaa

In 2020, roughly a third of farms were engaged in other business activities in addition to agriculture and horticulture. Most commonly, farms whose main production line was other cattle farming, i.e. sheep, goat or horse farming, were engaged in other business activities.  Other business activities in addition to agriculture and horticulture were the most common in the ELY Centre regions of Uusimaa and Lapland.

In 2020, some 14,500 agricultural and horticultural enterprises were engaged in other business activities. The number of farms engaged in other business activities has increased by roughly 300 farms since 2016, when the previous statistics on other business activities were compiled. The relative share of farms engaged in other business activities has increased by three percentage points to 32 per cent.

Large regional differences

Other business activities were the most common in the ELY Centre regions of Uusimaa and Lapland, with 40 per cent of farms being engaged in other business activities in both of these regions. The percentage was nearly as high in Kainuu. The figure was the lowest in Southern Ostrobothnia where a quarter of all farms were engaged in other business activities. Most commonly, farms carried out agricultural activities for other farms.

Other business activities rarer on pig and dairy farms

Less than 20 per cent of all pig farms and slightly more than 20 per cent of dairy farms were engaged in other business activities. In addition, some 45 per cent of farms whose main production line was other cattle farming, i.e. sheep, goat or horse farming, were engaged in other business activities. The corresponding figure was nearly 40 per cent for mixed farms, meaning farms that did not have any single clear production line, and farms whose main production line was beef production.

“It is likely that pig and dairy farming causes so much work that farms cannot engage in other business activities,” says Jaana Kyyrä, senior statistician at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

The 2020 Agricultural Census collected data on other business activities

The statistical questionnaire for the 2020 Agricultural Census requested data from nearly 13,000 farms on other business activities. The collection of data ended in April 2021. In total, almost 90 per cent of Finland’s 45,630 agricultural and horticultural enterprises responded to the 2020 Agricultural Census. Preliminary results of other business activities in agriculture and horticulture were published in October 2021. The results published now are final. Five preliminary statistics have been published based on the Agricultural Census, and the final results will be published during the spring and summer of 2022.