Diversified agricultural and horticultural enterprises

According to Farm Structure Survey approximately 14,542 of Finnish agricultural and horticultural enterprises were engaged in other business operations in addition to agriculture and horticulture in 2020. According to the data of the Natural Resources Institute Finland it was about 32 per cent of the enterprises. The number of farms engaged in other business activities has increased by roughly 300 farms since 2016.

The number of diversified farms has been the highest in urban areas, areas close to urban areas and thinly populated areas. Other business activities in addition to agriculture and horticulture were the most common in the ELY Centre regions of Uusimaa and Lapland. Most commonly, farms whose main production line was other cattle farming, i.e. sheep, goat or horse farming, were engaged in other business activities.

Over 16,000 farmers and members of entrepreneurial families are engaged in work related to other business operations. Other business operations employ nearly 4,000 hired employees. The turnover of other business activities usually accounted for less than 10 per cent of a farm’s total turnover.

Agricultural contractual work was the most common form of other business activities, with roughly 6,600 farms engaged in agriculture machine contracting.

This indicator represents how the number of diversified farms has developed. This indicator can be used to assess the impact of actions taken under the Rural Development Programme on the development of business operations outside the field of agriculture carried out by farms and to examine the strategies selected by farms.

The indicator data is obtained from Luke's Farm Structure Survey.

This is one of the national impact indicators of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland.

The next Farm Structure Survey will be in 2023.