Documentation of Estimated area sown to winter crops
Statistical presentation
Data description
The statistics on Estimated Area Sown with Winter Crops includes data on the area sown with winter wheat, winter rye, winter rape, and winter turnip rape in Finland. Data on the sown area is given by crop, including direct seeding area and organic sown area.
Classification system
The statistics follow the crop classifications of the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union concerning crop statistics (543/2009).
Data is available for the whole of Finland and by ELY-Center.
Sector coverage
The statistics cover the production of all significant crops farmed in Finland.
Statistical concepts and definitions
Winter wheat includes spelt.
Statistical unit
The statistical unit is an agricultural or horticultural enterprise.
Statistical population
The statistical population includes all agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland
Unit of measure
Estimated sown area is given in thousands of hectares.
Reference period
The estimated area sown with winter crops includes sowings done during autumn.
Frequency of disseminations
Yearly
Institutional mandate
The statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014), the Act on Food and Natural Resource Statistics (562/2014), the Statistics Act (280/2004), and the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union concerning crop statistics (543/2009).
More information: Statistics legislation
Confidentiality
Confidentiality - policy
Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle. Micro-data is confidential and must never be released for administrative decision-making, investigation, surveillance, legal proceedings, or similar purposes.
Confidentiality - data treatment
The confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed according to the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Personal Data Act (523/1999), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). Data is protected at all stages of processing using the necessary physical and technological solutions. The staff only has access to information necessary for their duties. Unauthorised people do not have access to spaces in which micro-data is processed. Staff members have signed a non-disclosure agreement when entering duty. Intentional breach of confidentiality will be penalised
More information: Privacy policy – Statistics
Release policy
The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00. Data is public after it has been published on the website.
Release calendar
The publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar holds data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.
Release calendar access
Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland
Quality management
Quality assurance
The Natural Resources Institute Finland follows the Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of European statistics when compiling statistics. The Code of Practice concern the independence and accountability of statistics authorities, and the quality of processes and published data. The principles are compatible with and supplement the Principles of Official Statistics, agreed upon by the United Nations Statistical Commission. The quality criteria of official statistics in Finland are also compatible with the Code of Practice of European statistics. The principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management.
Checks for faulty data in the data collection application mostly prevent accidental mistakes. The data collected is reviewed and edited after data collection.
Quality assessment
The response material of the statistics is reviewed and edited. Additionally, the non-response is investigated based on variable background information.
Accuracy and reliability
Overall accuracy and reliability
The crop production survey is a sample survey; thus, the results are estimated using weighting coefficients. The coefficient for each sample is calculated by diving the number of farms in the sampling frame by the number of farms that responded. SAS software is used for estimating the results. Error variances are estimated using the CLAN-macro in the SAS software. The relative standard error is usually under 10% at national level.
Timeliness, punctuality and comparability
Timeliness
The statistics are finalised yearly in December, 1–2 weeks after data collection has finished.
Comparability - over time
The information content of the statistics has remained mostly unchanged since the 1970s. Since 2003, the statistics also contain estimates on direct seeding area. Since 2013, the statistics has contained approved organic sown area. In 2015 the statistics expanded to cover winter turnip rape and winter rape.
The statistics have always been recorded as a sample survey. The sample size has decreased due to the number of farms decreasing, but this has no effect on comparability of statistics.
The statistics are a preliminary estimate of the winter sown area on the sowing year. Some of the winter sown area must be resown with a new crop in the next spring. Statistics on Utilised Agricultural Area also includes sown area of winter crops.
The main benefit of the statistics is the speed which it is compiled at. The statistics are usable for approximately six months, until the preliminary statistics on Utilised Agricultural Area are completed.
Coherence - cross domain
The data is coherent with other statistics based on the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises.
Statistical processing
Source data
The statistics are based on a sample survey for farms.
Frequency of data collection
Yearly
Data collection
In the crop production statistics, the sampling method is stratified sampling. Since 2006 the sample size has been approximately 6 000 farms.
Data validation
If for example an abnormally large observation is spotted during the data compilation process, the authenticity of data is reviewed.
Data compilation
Data collected with the sample survey is estimated using the normal multiplying factor of stratified sampling. Faulty or abnormal data from the sample survey are either revised or removed from the material.
