Some farms (1pc of the total) could not be classified because they are subsistent in nature or because they produce goods for which no standard output can be calculated.
Some farms (1pc of the total) could not be classified because they are subsistent in nature or because they produce goods for which no standard output can be calculated.
In 2020, there were 9.1m farms in the EU, back an estimated 5.3m than in 2005 – the equivalent of a decline of about 37pc, new figures from the EU show.
According to the figures, while there were fewer EU farms of all types in 2020 than in 2005, declines in some types of farms were much sharper than others; there were 2.6m fewer mixed farms, 1.6m fewer livestock specialist farms and 0.9m fewer crop specialist farms.
Almost three-fifths (58pc) of all farms in 2020 were categorised as specialist crop farms: just over one-third (34pc) specialised in field cropping, about one-fifth (22pc) in permanent crops and a small share (2pc) in horticulture, the figures show.
Slightly more than one-fifth (22pc) of the EU’s farms were specialist livestock farms, with specialisation in dairying being the most common type (5pc of all farms), followed by cattle-rearing and fattening, poultry, and sheep, goats and other grazing livestock (each 4pc).
In 2020, just under one-fifth (19pc) of all farms in the EU were mixed farms, meaning that they had multiple crops and/or livestock without a single activity making up at least two-thirds of standard output.
Some farms (1pc of the total) could not be classified because they are subsistent in nature or because they produce goods for which no standard output can be calculated.
Half of the EU’s utilised agricultural area found on crop specialist farms and in 2020, just over half (52pc) of the EU’s utilised agricultural area (UAA) was found on crop specialist farms, with about one-third (33pc) on livestock specialist farms and the rest on mixed farms (15pc). At country level, the share of UAA managed by each specialisation type strongly correlated with the number of farms by type of specialisation.
In broad terms, high proportions of crop specialist farms were observed in many Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria (73pc), Hungary (72pc), and Romania (67pc), while specialist livestock farms were more prevalent in several countries in northwest Europe, such as Luxembourg (82pc of all farms), Ireland (79pc) and the Netherlands (58pc).