Documentation of Utilised agricultural area

Description of the statistics

The statistics on utilised agricultural area include the areas of key crops grown during the calendar year, fallows and other utilised farmland of Finnish agricultural and horticultural enterprises. In the statistics, information about the cultivated area is presented by crop and divided into internationally comparable groups. The statistics represent the scope of crop production in Finland.

Classifications

The classification of crops mainly conforms to international groups of crops.

The regional classification is based on regions determined on the basis of the municipality in which each farm’s financial centre is located. Information is presented both at a national and regional level.

The statistics on utilised agricultural area mainly comply with the classifications of the EU regulation on crop statistics (543/2009).

Coverage

The statistics represent the use of farmland by crop and group on agricultural and horticultural farms. The statistics cover information on farms included in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. The agricultural and horticultural area that is not controlled by registered farms is therefore excluded from the statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Mixed cereals: mixed cereals (standing cereals and standing cereals + oil crops), mixed crops (protein crops + at least 50% of cereals) and mixtures: pea/broad bean/sweet lupin more than 50% + cereals

Other crops: whole crop cereals, sun flowers, camelina, quinoa, vetches, hemp, seed spices and pharmaceutical crops (apart from caraway), mixed crops (protein crops + oil crops), soy bean, sweet lupin, fodder root crops and other crops not included in any other groups

Horticultural crops: outdoor vegetables, strawberry and ornamental outdoor plants of less than five years of age on all farms included in the horticultural statistics

Perennial horticultural crops: fruit trees, berry plants and nursery gardens on all farms included in the horticultural statistics

Greenhouses: the greenhouse area allocated to horticultural crops on all farms included in the horticultural statistics

Kitchen gardens: gardens on all farms, and horticultural crops and perennial horticultural crops on farms not included in the horticultural statistics (total horticultural area usually less than 0.2 hectares)

Statistical unit

The statistics cover all the largest farms included in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. 

Population of the statistics

The population is obtained from the annually compiled register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. Since 2013, the register has included agricultural and horticultural enterprises, the financial size of which is at least EUR 2,000. The financial size is determined using the standard output (SO) method.

Before 2013, the population was obtained from the farm register. The register included farms that had at least one hectare of farmland in use or livestock equalling at least one livestock unit. 

Measuring unit

All cultivated areas are presented in thousands of hectares.

Reference period

Three times a year

Distribution frequency

Three times a year

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), and the Statistics Act (280/2004). The regulation No 1165/2008 of the Council of Europe also includes obligations regarding the production of statistics on the number of livestock.

More information: Statistics legislation

Data protection principles

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.

Information security and data protection in the processing of data

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

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.

Publication 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 assurance

In compiling statistics, the National Resources Institute Finland (Luke) complies with the Code of Practice (CoP) for European statistics and the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) based on it. The CoP concerns the independence and liability obligation of statistical authorities and the quality of processes and published information. Its principles are compatible with the principles of official statistics approved by the UK Statistical Commission and supplement them. In addition, the quality criteria set for the Official Statistics of Finland are compatible with the CoP. Its principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Quality evaluation

Data obtained from the agricultural administration’s registers are examined and edited in the statistics. The high quality of the statistics is based on the fact that nearly all farms apply for subsidies for their farmland, and that the provided subsidy application information is verified.

Accuracy and reliability in general

The population is updated once a year. This ensures that the statistics cover all farms included in the population. As a result, the statistics cover nearly 100 per cent of the population. The high quality of the statistics is based on the fact that nearly all farms apply for subsidies for their farmland and that the provided subsidy application information is verified.

Timeliness

Information on utilised agricultural area is usually published three times a year. The first preliminary statistics are published in June, and the next preliminary statistics containing regional information are published in July. The final statistics are published at the beginning of the following year.

Chronological comparability

Statistics on crop areas have been compiled annually since 1920. Before 1990, the concept of “farm” differed slightly from the concept that has been used since 1990. This change in the statistical unit reduced the number of farms included in the population and the total agricultural area. Before 1995, information on areas was based on sample surveys and on comprehensive surveys conducted every ten years.

The statistics were specified in 1995, since when agricultural areas have been based on total areas obtained from the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). In 1995, the classification was changed to correspond to the EU classification. The change in the classification mainly concerned the order of crop groups, while the most significant change in the content resulted from the division of grasslands into those of less than and more than five years of age.

In 2000–2012, total areas also included farms that had not applied for subsidies. The basic register was updated annually for farms that did not apply for subsidies. 

Since 2013, the basic register has been the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. When the register reform combined the two previously separate registers (the farm register and the register of horticultural enterprises), the differences in crop areas resulting from their slightly differing definitions were eliminated. The register reform also meant that the greenhouse area included in the statistics corresponded to the statistical year. It had been the previous year’s area. As a result of the register reform, some 4,200 farms whose financial size was below the lower limit of EUR 2,000 were excluded from the statistics. The combined agricultural area of the farms excluded from the statistics was approximately 29,000 hectares, or slightly more than one per cent of the total utilised agricultural area. 

The grouping presented under the “other crops” group will change if any of its crops are defined as a separate group. The area of horticultural crops presented in the statistics before 2013 may differ slightly from the area presented in the register of horticultural enterprises. Usually, the area based on the register of horticultural enterprises was slightly larger than the area presented in the farm register. This difference resulted from the different populations of the registers.

Source data

The utilised agricultural area is based on data saved in the register of the Finnish Food Authority’s agricultural administration.

Data collection frequency

Annually

Data collection method

The statistics cover all farms included in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. The register’s population is generated annually. Most of the statistical information is obtained from the IACS’s agricultural administration’s data system. Information on horticultural crops, perennial horticultural crops and greenhouse areas is obtained from the annual horticultural survey, in which information is requested directly from farms. A more detailed description of the statistical methodology is included in the quality description of horticultural statistics. Regarding the grassland area, the areas of dry hay, silage fodder and fresh feed are calculated. The grassland area is obtained from the agricultural administration’s data system, and it is divided into three uses based on the crop production survey’s results. In the crop production survey, the purpose of grasslands is requested from farms based on the use of the first harvest. The crop production survey is a sample survey based on stratified sampling. Since 2006, the population has consisted of roughly 6,000 farms.

The preliminary data published before the final statistics are based on the current year’s IACS data on the cultivated area on the farms included in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises in the previous year. If the IACS does not yet cover all cultivated area data updated in conjunction with subsidy applications, the missing cultivated area will be recorded as equal to the previous year’s cultivated area at an ELY Centre level. The recording by crop group will be relative to the data saved. Usually, the missing data will be recorded in the first preliminary data that includes data for the entire country. In 2019, approximately 98 per cent of the data was available in the first preliminary data.

Validation of data

If for example an abnormally large observation is spotted during the data compilation process, the authenticity of data is reviewed.

Processing of data

The information collected through the crop production survey is estimated using regular increase factor estimation through partial random sampling.