EU Agricultural and Farm Economics Briefs No. 9 ǀ November 2015

EU farms and farmers in 2013: an update

Farms are the basic organisational unit for agricultural

production. How many farms are there in the EU and how

has their number changed in recent years? Are they

becoming bigger and more specialised? And what about

the farmers who take production decisions and receive

CAP payments – what do we know about them?

Every 3-4 years, new data on farm structures in the EU

become available1. They provide a long-awaited update of

key indicators for agricultural policy: farm numbers, farm

sizes, land ownership, livestock numbers, as well as

characteristics of the agricultural labour force. The latest

such update offers data from 2013 and preliminary

results have just been published. This brief summarises

the main findings, with a particular focus on farmers of

different age groups and the characteristics of their farms.

1 Data on farm structures are taken from Eurostat's Farm Structure Survey

(http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-

explained/index.php/Glossary:Farm_structure_survey_(FSS)). 2013 data are

preliminary and may still change in the near future.

Picture source: European Union

Main figures and trends in a nutshell

In 2013, a total of 10.8 million farms operated in the EU-

28, down from 12 million farms in 2010 (-11.5%). The

long-term decline in the number of agricultural

holdings thus continued - between 2005 and 2013 the

average annual rate of decline stood at -3.7%. While some

of these losses may be due to changes in survey

thresholds, it is clear that a consolidation process

towards larger, more competitive farms is taking place

across the EU, with an increase in the average farm size

from 14.4 to 16.1 ha of agricultural land (+12.2%)

between 2010 and 2013.

Farms are growing even more in economic terms. The

Standard Output per holding, which is a measure of the

economic farm size, increased by a remarkable 21%.

The increase in competitiveness is further expressed in the

lower number of regular agricultural workers (22

million in 2013, down from 25 million in 2010; -12.8%).

Converted into full-time jobs, the decline is less

pronounced (-4.4% between 2010 and 2013), indicating a

shift towards more full-time employment in agriculture.

While all key indicators declined in absolute terms, their

average numbers per holding increased, indicating a

trend towards bigger, more productive farms.

-12,8%

-11,5%

-4,4%

-3,8%

-0,7%

8,1%

8,7%

12,2%

21,4%

-20,0% -10,0% 0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0%

agriculturalworkers

number of holdings

full-time jobs

livestock units

agricultural land

full-time jobs per holding

livestock units per holding

agricultural land per holding

Standard Output per holding

Key trends 2010-2013 (EU-28)

Changes in

absolute figures

Changes in figures

per holding

Small farms and big farms

Despite this consolidation process, the majority of farms

in the EU are still very small. More than two-thirds of all

holdings work on less than 5 ha of agricultural land and

more than half have a Standard Output (i.e., a standardized

sales value over the course of one year) below 4 000 euros

or roughly 333 euros per month, before deduction of any

production costs.

The total area occupied by these small farms only comes

to 6%, while more than half of the agricultural land

belongs to farms which have more than 100 hectares.

From an environmental point of view, the practices on big

farms are thus much more significant than those on

smaller holdings.

The percentage of the smallest farms is constantly

declining. The gradual nature of the consolidation process

is shown in the slight increases for all other farm size

groups – where a small farm stops operations, the land is

taken over by another farm, which then moves on to the

next size class.

The overall number of big farms in the EU context is

still rather limited, with significant regional differences.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

< 5 ha 5 - 9.9 ha 10 - 19.9 ha 20 - 29.9 ha 30 - 49.9 ha 50 - 99.9 ha 100 ha orover

Farms by land size class EU-27

2005 2007 2010 2013

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

50,0%

60,0%

Less than2 ha

2 - 4.9 ha 5 - 9.9 ha 10 - 19.9ha

20 - 29.9ha

30 - 49.9ha

50 - 99.9ha

100 ha orover

Agricultural land in farms of different size classes EU-27

2005 2007 2010 2013

Full time and part-time work

Clearly, such very small farms do not provide a viable

income for the farmer and his/her family. They are either

run as part-time operations, where other sources of

income play an important role, or they are used to

supplement retirement pensions with cash or food.

In 2013, 42% of all farmers worked full-time. The bigger

the farm, the greater the share of full-time farmers – with

the exception of farms without any agricultural land at all

(mostly intensive pig and poultry holdings), which also

had a high share of full-time farmers.

Family and non-family work

Family members still provide the bulk of agricultural

labour on EU farms (more than 75%), although the

importance of regular and non-regular labour input by

non-family members has increased since 2005.

In fact, even in 2013, 97% of all farms were held by a

single natural person (as opposed to legal entities and

group holdings), making them family farms for all intents

and purposes.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Farmers' working pattern EU-27, 2013

100 percent of a full-time

From 75 to 99 percent of a full-time

From 50 to 74 percent of a full-time

From 25 to 49 percent of a full-time

From 1 to 24 percent of a full-time

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2005 2007 2010 2013

Pe

rce

nt

of

ann

ual

wo

rk u

nit

s

Composition of labour force EU-27

Non-family labour forceworking on non-regular basis

Regular non family labourforce

Family labour force

Young farmers and elderly farmers

The majority of EU farmers (i.e., the persons responsible

for the day-to-day management of a farm) were older than

55 years and only 6% were younger than 35 years in 2013.

Close to one-third of all farmers are above the normal

retirement age of 65. The overall ratio of young (below 35

years) to elderly (over 55 years) farmers came to 0.11 in

2013, meaning that for every young farmer, there were 9

elderly farmers.

Between 2005 and 2013, the relative importance of the

different age groups has not changed significantly. Slight

changes in trends may be as much due to various changes

in survey methodology as to any real developments.

In absolute terms, however, there has been a massive

decline in the number of elderly farmers (-1.3 million

between 2005 and 2013).

6,0%

15,3%

22,9% 24,7% 31,1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Less than 35years

From 35 to 44years

From 45 to 54years

From 55 to 64years

65 years or over

Age of farmers EU-27; 2013

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

2005 2007 2010 2013

Farmers by age group EU-27

65 years or over

From 55 to 64 years

From 45 to 54 years

From 35 to 44 years

Less than 35 years

0

1.000.000

2.000.000

3.000.000

4.000.000

5.000.000

Less than 35years

From 35 to 44years

From 45 to 54years

From 55 to 64years

65 years orover

Farmers by age group (absolute numbers) EU-27

2005

2007

2010

2013

Farm sizes differ with farmers' age

While average farm sizes have increased for farmers of all

age groups, the preliminary figures for 2013 suggest that

this has been most significant for the youngest farmers. In

fact, they now own the biggest farms, surpassing those of

middle-aged farmers. The oldest farmers hold by far the

smallest farms, giving further support to the idea that

agricultural activities here serve mainly as a supplement to

a pension or as a hobby.

For economic farm size, remarkable improvements are

visible for all age groups, but most significantly again for

the youngest farmers. Their farms now seem to have a

similar economic size as those of well-established farmers

up to the age of 54. The oldest farmers have the smallest

farms in economic terms, in line with their small average

land size, but even here, there is an upward trend.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Less than 35years

From 35 to 44years

From 45 to 54years

From 55 to 64years

65 years orover

he

ctar

es/

ho

ldin

g

Average land size by age group EU-27

2005

2007

2010

2013

0

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

35.000

40.000

45.000

50.000

Less than 35years

From 35 to 44years

From 45 to 54years

From 55 to 64years

65 years orover

eu

ros

pe

r h

old

ing

Standard Output per holding by age class EU-27

2005

2007

2010

2013

Training levels – much room for improvement

Even in 2013, the vast majority of EU farmers have

learned their profession only through practical experience.

This is particularly the case for the oldest farmers, among

which more than 80% never had any agricultural training.

More worrying, however, is the fact that this also applies

to over 60% of the youngest farmers, who will need

advanced knowledge if they want to stay in business.

While roughly 20% of all farmers have received basic

training, a meagre 9% have followed a full agricultural

training course – this is more common among the younger

age groups.

Fewer young people in agriculture than in

other sectors

Looking beyond farm managers to the overall agricultural

labour force, the proportion of young people in the

agricultural sector (31.5%) is lower than in any other

sector of the economy (43% on average)2. On the other

hand, agriculture seems to be the sector in which it is most

common for people to continue work after the age of 65.

2 Eurostat, Labour Force Survey 2014.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

practical experienceonly

basic training full agriculturaltraining

Training level by age group EU-27, 2013

Less than 35 years

From 35 to 44 years

From 45 to 54 years

From 55 to 64 years

65 years or over

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Employment by age group in different sectors EU-28, 2014

65 years or over

From 40 to 64 years

From 15 to 39 years

In summary

Agriculture in the EU is undergoing a steady but non-dramatic process of structural change.

Farms are getting bigger and more productive, with a declining dependence on labour, but there are still vast numbers of very small farms, primarily

run in a part-time fashion and often by elderly farmers.

Roughly 75% of agricultural labour is provided by family members.

While the number of elderly farmers has declined quite drastically over the years, they still represent the majority of farmers in Europe. In fact,

agriculture is the sector in which it is most common for people to continue work after the age of 65.

Young farmers hold bigger farms; they are also the best-trained group of EU-farmers, even though much more could be done to increase overall

training levels.

This document does not necessarily represent the official views of

the European Commission

Contact: DG Agriculture and Rural Development

Economic Analysis of EU Agriculture

Tel: +32-2-29 91111 / E-mail: Agri-E3@ec.europa.eu

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rural-area-

economics/briefs/index_en.htm

European Union, 2015 - Reproduction authorized provided the

source is acknowledged