Scottish Government

FINAL RESULTS OF THE DECEMBER 2009 AGRICULTURAL SURVEY

A NATIONAL STATISTICS PUBLICATION FOR SCOTLAND

The results show the following trends between December 2008 and December 2009:

• The number of cattle fell by 21,000, from 1.78 million to 1.76 million. (a decrease of 1.2 per cent).
• The number of sheep decreased by 104,000, from 4.7 million to 4.6 million (a decrease of 2.2 per cent).
• Pig numbers increased by 12,000, from 382,000 to 395,000 (an increase of 3.2 per cent).
• The number of poultry rose by 344,000, from 13.2 million to 13.6 million (an increase of 2.6 per cent).
• For winter crops sown by 1st December; there was a 17.3 per cent increase for wheat from 88,000 hectares to 104,000 hectares and a 14.7 percent increase for oilseed rape from 29,000ha to 33,000ha. The area of winter barley shows a decrease of 2.2 per cent from 53,000 hectares to 52,000 hectares. Compared to June Census results, which have a more comprehensive coverage, winter barley areas show an increase of 15.1% from 45,000 hectares to 52,000 hectares. These increases in winter crops reflect more favourable sowing conditions in the autumn of 2009 compared to 2008.
• Total agricultural workforce rose by 800 from 45,000 to 45,800 (an increase of 1.7 per cent).

List of tables

Cattle

Sheep

Pigs

Poultry

Labour

Crops

Livestock trends line graph

Crops and labour trends line graph

Results of the 2009 December Agricultural Survey (Excel and PDF format)

KEY NOTES

1. All figures are rounded to the nearest 1000. Figures may not, therefore, add to totals.
2. Percentage figures, which have been calculated using unrounded figures, have been rounded to the nearest 0.1%.
3. The results of the December agricultural sample survey are produced from returns from approximately 11,200 main agricultural holdings, from a total of around 26,200. Since these results are based on a sample, the estimates are subject to a degree of statistical uncertainty.
4. In 2000, a reclassification exercise was carried out which resulted in a number of main holdings being classified as minor holdings and vice versa. As these statistics cover main holdings only, there is a slight discontinuity between the data for 2000 and previous years. The reclassification exercise is now carried out on regular basis.
5. From 2009, land use data in the annual June Census has been sourced from both (i) the Single Application Form (SAF) for holdings claiming Single Farm Payments and (ii) the remaining June Census forms to generate overall results. This change in the underlying data source constitutes a step change in the land use data series. This step change has effected some of the grassland items displayed in the December 2009 crops table, as data from the 2009 June Census is used to raise the December results to create national-level estimates.
6. The December survey results exclude estimates for minor holdings. Statistics including minor holdings are published each year with the results from the June Census (available at web address below). This difference between the December Survey and June Census results is most prominent for agricultural labour, where minor holdings account for 34% of occupiers and spouses and 7% of regular and casual staff.
7. The December Agriculture Survey also collects information on a range of machinery, transport and other equipment used on agricultural holdings. This information takes longer to process and is published in the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Agriculture-Fisheries/PubEconomicReport).