Farms

Agriculture statistics are produced within the European community programme of surveys on the structure of farms that are performed by all member states of the European Union in order to provide up-to-date and comparable information for the purposes of having a basic component to utilise when designing common agricultural policies. The programme establishes that an agricultural census must be performed every ten years and sample surveys during intercensal periods. Until the 2009 Agricultural Census, there were 3 surveys collected in the intercensal cycles, in biennial periods. For the cycle beginning with the 2009 Agricultural Census, two triennial surveys were established, in 2013 and 2016.

The research characteristics cover the size of these operations, the type of ownership, irrigation methods, soil use, livestock, storage facilities and manual labour.

In Catalonia, until 2007, the information had been collected by the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat) with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Natural Environment. Starting in 2009, the INE became responsible for the collection of data nationwide, while in Catalonia it worked in collaboration with Idescat and the Ministry of Agriculture, in accordance with their respective collaboration agreements.

Area of reference

Geographic area: the research covers all of Catalonia

Time frame: information is gathered from the growing season between 1 October in the previous year to 30 September of the reference year, expect for livestock, whose date of reference is 30 September.

Population area: the agricultural operations researched are those existing in Catalonia as of 30 September of that year, regardless of who the acting owner is, an individual or legal entity, and where the agricultural production takes place.

Until the 1999 Agricultural Census, censuses had made an exhaustive investigation of operations with a minimum area of 0.1 ha or a minimum number of animals. Starting with the 2009 Agricultural Census, the operations under study had to occupy a utilised agricultural area (SAU) of at least 1 ha or a minimum area of a certain intensive crop, of a minimum number of animals, and excluded operations that only consisted of forested land. Similarly, the sample Surveys on the Structure of Agricultural Operations comply with certain minimum criteria of operations similar to those investigated in the 2009 Agricultural Census. In order to draw comparisons with the data from the 1999 Agricultural Census, these have been adapted for Catalonia to the scope studied in these surveys. For Spain, the INE does not provide for this adaptation

Data collection period: the collection of the information is carried out between the months of October in the reference year and January of the following year.

Agricultural operation

An agricultural unit (fields and/or livestock) under sole management located in a specific geographic location and which uses the same means of production: manual labour, machinery, etc.

Agricultural operation with fields

One where the total surface area, consisting of one or many parcels and not necessarily contiguous, is equal to or greater than 1 ha of SAU; or 0.2 ha of outdoor vegetables crops, flower cultivation, irrigated fruit orchards or greenhouses; or 0.1 ha of greenhouse vegetable or flower cultivation; or 0.5 ha of tobacco, hops or cotton.

Agricultural operation without fields

One exclusively devoted to raising livestock with a minimum of one or more LUs and a TSP equal to or higher than 0.75 EDUs

Utilised agricultural area (SAU)

The set of cultivated fields and land set aside for ongoing pasture. Cultivated fields include arable crop land, fallow fields, family orchards, and land set aside for woody crops.

Latest update: February 2015