Directorate Spatial Statistics

Agriculture and Forestry 

Statistics Austria

Directorate Spatial Statistics

Guglgasse 13

1110 Vienna

Article 9 of the Federal Statistics Act 2000, as amended on survey variables lays down an obligation to provide information insofar as it cannot be obtained from administrative data. Physical and legal persons and partnerships under commercial law who/which operate a statistical unit in their own name are obliged to provide information. Moreover, natural and legal persons and partnerships under commercial law who either operate a selected holding which does not meet the criteria for inclusion in the survey or who sold or closed their holding are required to provide the relevant information in the form of a reasoned nil return. 

Obligation on respondents to cooperate  

Respondents have to provide their information on time, in full and to best of their knowledge. The information can be provided during a telephone interview with specially trained staff of Statistics Austria or independently by filling in an electronic questionnaire (direct respondents).

The deadline for the direct respondents was 28 November 2016. Those farmers, who took the help of the interviewers to complete and submit their questionnaire, either called directly the free hotline – or arranged an interview by sending the reply card back to Statistics Austria, filled in with their telephone number and availability (weekday and time window). This had to be done until 15 November 2016.

Obligations on other persons

AA                  Arable Area

AFR                Agricultural and Forestry Register

AMA               Agrarmarkt Austria

BGBl.              Federal Law Gazette

CAP                Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union

EU                   European Union

Eurostat           Statistical Office of the European Communities

FSS                  Farm Structure Survey

IACS               Integrated Administration and Control System

LBG                LBG Österreich GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfung & Steuerberatung manages the network of returning holdings.

LFBIS             The Information System for Agricultural and Forestry Holdings enables the federal government to consolidate data on individual holdings

LFRZ               The Computing and Technology Centre for Agriculture, Forestry and Water

MoA                Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management

NACE             Nomenclature générale des activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes

NUTS              Nomenclature des Unités Territoriales Statistiques

ÖPUL              The Austrian national programme for the promotion of environmentally friendly and extensive agriculture that protects natural habitats

SAPM              Survey on Agricultural Production Methods

STATcube       Statistics Austria’s statistical database system is the successor to the ISIS database.

TA                   Total Area

In addition according to a national regulation, statistical units include forestry holdings with at least three hectares of wooded area. These holdings, which only have wooded areas, are included in the national results but not in the dataset delivered to Eurostat.  

The definition of the holding is consistent with the definition fixed in Regulation No 1166/2008. Agricultural holding“ or „holding“ means a single unit, both technically and economically, which has a single management and which undertakes agricultural activities listed in Annex I to the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 within the economic territory of the European Union, either as its primary or secondary activity.

Thresholds of the FSS comply with requirements in Article 3.2. of the Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008. Statistical units are, in accordance with § 2 of the National Regulation (BGBl. II No 243/2016) regarding the preparation of statistics concerning the agriculture and agricultural production 2016, agricultural holdings in line with Article 2 lit. a of the Regulation(EC) No 1166/2008, that reach one of the following thresholds:

1. 1 hectare utilized agricultural area (UAA)
   (A_3_1>=1ha);
2. Wine-growing holdings with at least 25 ares under market vines
   (B_4_4>=0.25ha);
3. Holdings with at least 15 ares of intensively utilized fruit orchards, or 10 ares under berries, strawberries, vegetables, hops, flowers or decorative plants, or tree-, forest- and viticultural nurseries
   (B_4_1_1>=0.15ha or B_4_1_2>=0.1ha or B_1_7_1strawberries>=0.1ha or B_1_7_1vegetables>=0.1ha or B_1_6_2 >=0.1ha or B_1_8_1>=0.1ha or B_4_5>=0.1ha);
4. Holdings which operate greenhouses (high/low glass or foil) covering at least one are, the majority of the produce being grown for market
   (B_1_7_2+B_1_8_2>=0.01ha;
5. Livestock holdings with at least three head of cattle, five pigs, 10 sheep, 10 goats or 100 head of poultry of any type
   (C_2>=3heads or C_3_1>=10heads or C_3_2>=10heads or C_4>=5heads or C_5>=100heads).
6. In addition according to a national regulation, statistical units include forestry holdings with at least three hectares of wooded area
   (B_5_2>=3ha).

A dataset of 26186 holdings was sent to Eurostat (see table in 3.3. Data collection - item 4. Monitoring of response and non-response, row 5). This dataset comprises all holdings of the sample meeting the EU thresholds. Excluded in this dataset are forestry holdings which are relevant exclusively due to a wooded area of three hectares and more. 

The national dataset comprises round 29000 holdings (including those forestry holdings, which are relevant exclusively due to a wooded area of three hectares and more).

Number of holdings in the final weighted population of the survey reference year, according to the data transmitted to Eurostat: 132501 holdings 

Statistics Austria does not calculate the standard output of holdings.

6 holdings in the sample with SO=0 have fallow land and/or permanent grassland no longer in production purposes and eligible for subsidies. This land is kept in good agricultural and environmental conditions.

1. 1 hectare utilized agricultural area (UAA);
2. Wine-growing holdings with at least 25 areas under market vines;
3. Holdings with at least 15 ares of intensively utilized fruit orchards, or 10 ares under berries, strawberries, vegetables, hops, flowers or decorative plants, or tree-, forest- and viticultural nurseries;
4. Holdings which operate greenhouses (high/low glass or foil) covering at least one are, the majority of the produce being grown for market;
5. Livestock holdings with at least three head of cattle, five pigs, 10 sheep, 10 goats or 100 head of poultry of any type.

• the address of the farm, which is synonimous with the main agricultural building in most of the cases and which may differ from the mailing address or residential address of the farmer.
• In the case of common land units (alpine pastures), which usually do not have an address in the conventional sense,  the coordinates of the alpine hut was used.
• In cases where there was not even a hut, the coordinate was set manually in the center of the areas belonging to the common land unit.   

Reference dates of the main groups of national variables are:

• 1 April 2016 for details regarding livestock data,
• 15 May 2016 for details regarding ownership conditions and land-area-related survey variables and
• 31 October 2016 for all other survey variables.

Reference periods of the main groups of national variables are:

• 1 November 2015 to 31 October 2016 for details regarding livestock feeding, labour force and other gainful activities,
• 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2016 for details regarding organic farming (land), arable land, land, soil and manure management practices and irrigation,
• the calendar year 2016 for details regarding livestock, in cases where livestock husbandry holdings have not put up a single head of the reared livestock on the reference day (1 April 2016),
• 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016 for support for rural development.

Statistics Austria bears ultimate responsibility for implementing the Farm Structure Survey. The Farm Structure Survey is one of many projects of the Agriculture and Forestry Sector of the Directorate for Spatial Statistics (Raumwirtschaft). Its specialist team is supported by EDP (electronic data processing) and statistical experts in methodology.

Technical advice concerning the contents is provided by the Working Party of the Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics, which comprises leading experts at various relevant institutions/organizations in the agricultural sector.

The main tasks of the project team were:

• Compiling the survey program in line with EU requirements and taking national requirements into account;
• Cooperating in drafting the national regulation with the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management (MoA);
• Placing information articles in relevant media;
• Coordination of tasks between special departments and IT Department;
• Sample design and drawing the sample in cooperation with the statistical experts in methodology;
• Design of a plausibility program in cooperation with the IT Dept;
• Compilation of the questionnaire, instructing printers to print the documents, dispatching documents to the respondents;
• Training the staff in how to execute the survey (hotline agents (permanent staff) and telephone interviewers (temporary staff)); training the staff of Statistics Austria in how to process the survey;
• The hotline agents (permanent staff) providing respondents with information during the survey phase;
• Obtaining, processing and combining data from the various sources;
• Initiating reminder procedures in case of belated respondents;
• Reminding respondents who had not replied and reporting non-respondents to the competent authorities;
• Checks on the completeness and plausibility of the data;
• Specifications for the creation of the database (STATcube - data cube), tabulation, publication and dissemination of results;
• Processing individual data in line with EU rules, extrapolation and transmission to Eurostat.

Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics

The Federal Statistics Act 2000 (BGBl. I No 163/1999, as last amended by BGBl. I No 136/2001, BGBl. I No 71/2003, BGBl. I No 92/2007, BGBl. I No 125/2009, BGBl. I No. 111/2010 and BGBl. I No 40/2014) provides for the creation of Advisory Committees for the various relevant areas of activity. The Farm Structure Survey comes under the aegis of the Advisory Committee on Agricultural Statistics, which comprises experts from various Austrian institutions (representatives of the MoA, the Governments of the Länder, Chambers of Agriculture at Land level, the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture, LBG Wirtschaftstreuhand- and Beratungsgesellschaft (a limited company), the University of Agriculture (Universität für Bodenkultur) etc.). This body is tasked with providing Statistics Austria, which bears ultimate responsibility for the survey as such, with mainly technical advice and support in the planning and implementation of the survey. 

The type of frame is a list frame.

The Farm Register is continuously updated in the light of various primary agricultural surveys and by comparison with various types of administrative data (applications for subsidies, social insurance information, necrologies etc.).

The holdings in the sampling frame were divided into between 6 and 15 strata depending on NUTS2 (=federal state/province/Land). In Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Styria the strata 1 to 9 were formed by combining the size categories for the variables 'total area in ha (TA)' and 'arable area in ha (AA)'. In Salzburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna the strata 1 to 3 were formed by combining the size categories for the variables 'total area in ha (TA)'. The other strata comprise holdings with a high livestock population, a large labour force or significant fruit/vine cultivation.

For stratification purposes, the conditions shown in Annexes 3.1-3.2. Detailed-stratification-and-delimitations-per-NUTS2 and 3.1-3.2. Stratification-conditions-NUTS 2 had to be met in each Federal State (Land).

Integrated administration and control system (IACS) including the Austrian program for the funding of environmentally sustainable extensive agriculture that conserves the natural world (ÖPUL)

• Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013, and the Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) No 639/2014,  No 994/2014,  No 1001/2014,  No 1378/2014,  and No 2015/851.

• data are updated every year and used according to the reference dates and periods of the survey (see concept 2.8 Time coverage).

System for identification and registration of bovine animals (Cattle register)

• Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97, as amended  by Council Regulations (EC) No 1791/2006 and No 517/2013 and Regulation  (EU)  No  653/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council,

• data are continuously updated and used according to the reference dates and periods of the survey (see concept 2.8 Time coverage).

Register of organic farms (comment: in a strict sense, there is no register of organic farms in Austria, information is taken from IACS/ÖPUL) (information see above).

Measures for rural development

• Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.

• data are updated every year and used according to the reference dates and periods of the survey (see concept 2.8 Time coverage).

Based on Article 4 (2), Austria requested further the use of following administrative data:  

Veterinary Information System (VIS)

• Directive 2000/16/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 10 April 2000 amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the marketing of compound feeding stuffs and Council Directive 96/25/EC on the circulation of feed materials; Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC; Animal Diseases Act – TSG, Act of 6 August 1909, RGBl. No 177, concerning the defense and eradication of animal diseases (as amended in 2008 BGBl. I 2008/36); Animal identification and registration act 2009 BGBl. II No 291/2009: Regulation of the Minister of Health on the identification of pigs, sheep, goats and equidae and the registration of animal husbandry (Animal identification and Registration ordinance 2009; TKZVO 2009); Approved or registered ABP-plants according to Reg. (EC) No 1069/2009; Lists of approved food establishments according to Reg. (EC) No 853/2004 and Reg. (EC) No 852/2004.

• data are updated every year and used according to the reference dates and periods of the survey (see concept 2.8 Time coverage).

On the other hand there is an obligation on the holders of administrative data to cooperate. According to the Regulation (BGBl. II No 243/2016) regarding the preparation of statistics concerning the structure of the agricultural holdings in the year 2016 Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) is required to transmit the administrative data necessary for collecting the survey variables at the request of Statistics Austria free of charge on an electronic data carrier.

Furthermore according to the Federal Statistics Act the position of Statistics Austria has/would have to be taken into consideration in the conceptual design and subsequent related revisions of the administrative sources. In the light of growing efforts to cut costs and streamline the requests on the administrative side the practical coordination with the statistical requirements might not allways be optimally implemented and has to be compensated by recoding or by directly asking the farmers in individual issues. Most effective would be the precise coordination of administrative and statistical concepts and requirements already at European level.

Correlations between the variables were assessed. Area data has to be provided by 15 May of the current harvest year. The record day of the area data correlates with the record day of the IACS data (15 May 2016). Information on ecological farming has to be provided by 15 November.

Essentially, there is a good correlation between the variables.
In the AMA multiple application, area data are often recorded more detailed in Schlagnutzungsarten (land parcels).
In a very small minority of cases variables may not be covered sufficiently by administrative data

Transition tables were used for aggregating land parcels from IACS to the required FSS categories.
In isolated cases Statistics Austria had to assign the IACS data to relevant items in the FSS program.
Not sufficiently by administrative data covered variables, were entered into the electronic questionnaire in the frame of the FSS 2016 by respondents. 

Correlations between the variables were assessed.
Record day of cattle data (FSS) correlates with the record day of the cattle data base (1 April 2016).

The cattle register contains the complete bovine categories, with exception of dairy cows/other cows, for the breakdown of individual items in accordance with the guidelines of the FSS.

The number of cows and the total number of cattle for the reference date 1 April 2016 was integrated into the electronic questionnaire. The respondents had to divide the number of cows into dairy cows and other cows in questionnaire. The detailed information (categories) of the rest of the cattle was consolidated after the survey with FSS data using the unique identification number of the holding.

Over-coverage is excluded. 

Out-of scope units were excluded.

Unreported events of units, which can be considered by themselves as covered by administrative data, are excluded due to the control- and sanctioning mechanisms (see also comparability below). 

Data are only available for holdings which submit a multiple application to Agrarmarkt Austria.

Holdings which do not submit a claim in a particular year are required to make the data available in the course of the FSS.

100% coverage by administrative data.

Unreported events of units, which can be considered by themselves as covered by administrative data, are excluded due to the control- and sanctioning mechanisms (see also comparability below).

Data are only available for agricultural holdings keeping livestock which require to be reported by the VIS full survey or submit an IACS funding request.

Agricultural holdings keeping livestock which neither require to be reported by the VIS full survey nor submit an IACS funding request have to provide the information about livestock as part of the Farm Structure Survey. This applies only to very few holdings keeping exclusively poultry, horses or farmed game.

Misclassification is excluded.

There are no multiple listing errors due to the use of a unique registration code for each holding. 

There are missing data on B_1_7 Fresh vegetables, melons, strawberries, B_1_8 Flowers and B_2 Kitchen gardens.

The respondents are required to make the data available in the course of the FSS.

Missing data are excluded due to the control- and sanctioning mechanisms.

In situ inspections are carried out at farmers’ premises by AMA as part of the IACS and false declarations punished by reductions in premiums. Statistics Austria is using already checked data (September). Therefore it can be assumed that the administrative data are highly accurate. The use of a digital cadaster map (DCM) is also expected to yield accurate information on areas.

A series of checks are performed in the course of the administrative process, this allows that the use of data from the Cattle Register makes for a greater accuracy and reliability of the results for a cattle population.

VIS:
The annually on 1 April surveyed data were integrated into the VIS database. As these administrative data underlie continuous controls, a great accuracy and reliability of the results can be assumed.

In principle there are no processing errors in the context with the use of administrative data due to the use of unique identifiers on both sides (administration and statistics).

Nevertheless, by prefilling the administrative data (IACS and VIS) concerning areas and livestock into the electronic questionnaire the respondents would have the opportunity to check and correct the data while completing the electronic questionnaire.

In 1995 the information in the IACS was compared with the results of  agricultural surveys carried out in the traditional manner (Farm Structure Surveys and livestock censuses). 

Comparison of the items revealed a very good match with the agricultural surveys.

Nevertheless, by prefilling the administrative data concerning areas into the electronic questionnaire the respondents would have the opportunity to check and correct the data while completing the electronic questionnaire. In case of large discrepancies the farmers would have been recalled.

Comparisons were made between the analyses of the Cattle Register and the results of the livestock censuses. The data were checked as part of the application to use administrative data from the Cattle Register instead of statistical cattle surveys.

There was a close correlation between the results of this source and the livestock censuses. 

Comparisons of VIS data were made with results from statistical surveys.

Nevertheless, by prefilling the administrative data concerning livestock into the electronic questionnaire the respondents would have the opportunity to check and correct the data while completing the electronic questionnaire. In case of large discrepancies the farmers would have been recalled. 

--- 

In isolated cases data had to be aggregated.   

The reporting unit (statistical unit) used is the agricultural and forestry holding. Around 14% of holdings includes two or more sub-holdings (in many cases, these are alpine pasture units). The definition of the reporting unit meets the definitions used for the subsidy system and the related administrative data. Every agricultural and forestry holding (resp. subholding)  has a unique identification number, that is used in subsidies as well as in the frame of statistical surveys. The assignment between various data sources is done with this unique identification number (exact matching procedure). There were no mismatching cases.

Those farmers, who took the help of the telephone interviewers to complete and submit their questionnaire, either called directly the free hotline or arranged an interview by sending a prepaid reply card back to Statistics Austria, filled in with their telephone number and availability (workday and time window). The competent interviewers opened the farmer’s survey form using the farmer’s access data and filled out the electronic questionnaire with the necessary information.

The survey took the form of a personalised electronic questionnaire, in which the name and the address of the holdings were already entered and only had to be checked and, if necessary, corrected. Detailed information material on how to use the electronic questionnaire and administer the Farm Structure Survey was sent directly to the respondents by post in October 2016. These consisted of an accompanying letter, a survey manual with a full description of the electronic questionnaire and a reply card (to arrange an interview) with a prepaid envelope.

A dedicated free hotline was set up by Statistics Austria to answer any questions that arose during the survey phase. In addition, queries could be sent by e-mail to Agrarstrukturerhebung@statistik.gv.at.

The IT department took the data directly from the questionnaire in tranches and imported it into a database.

Maintaining up-to-date information in the Farm Register (or Agricultural and Forestry Register, AFR)

The Farm Register (or Agricultural and Forestry Register, AFR) on which the FSS is based is constantly being enhanced in terms of technical aspects and content maintenance as a result of increased updating options (administrative data, other registers etc.). In the run-up to the survey additional measures were taken to improve the up-to-dateness (e.g. adjustments with necrologies etc.).

Awareness campaign

Concerted articles were published in the relevant newspapers, journals and web pages to inform on the survey, its purposes and the importance of cooperation.

Trainings

• Training of all hotline agents (permanent staff of Statistics Austria) engaged in the FSS.
• Training of all telephone interviewers (temporary staff) engaged in the FSS.

Hotline-strategy

For the hotline staff and telephone interviewers at Statistics Austria, a list of frequently asked questions with regard to the motivation of respondents was compiled as a means of preparing them for questions from "difficult" respondents. Hotline agents were trained to convince respondents, who called and signalised to boycott the FSS, to give the information via direct telephone interview. Regular meetings of the hotline agents and the issue of newsletters facilitated information flows. 

Telephone Interviews

Although the relatively low return quota of the reply cards (to arrange an interview) requires further improvement (only about 12,1% reply cards were returned), the farmers very willingly accepted the possibility to provide the information via telephone interview in the end. The low return quota of the reply cards had to be offset by intensified research for telephone contact information in the Farm Register (or Agricultural and Forestry Register, AFR), phone book and internet. 

Reminders for overdue questionnaires

A graded series of reminders for overdue questionnaires was applied.

• In former surveys the local authorities had to ensure that all questionnaires were returned and it was their responsibility to ask the holdings (either in person, over the telephone, in writing or by registered mail) to complete the questionnaire. Since the FSS 2013 the Austrian local authorities have not been directly involved. Now the holdings were targeted by telephone-interview procedures by staff at Statistics Austria.
• About 3457 farmers, who had failed to complete the questionnaire on time or who could not be contacted by phone, were reminded and notified of the legal consequences via registered letter.    
• 93 farmers insisted on their refusal and were ultimately reported by Statistics Austria to the relevant authorities in April 2017 to initiate administrative penal proceedings. Since Statistics Austria has no executive power to pursue administrative penal proceedings, information about these holdings had to be given to the relevant administrative districts that are responsible in Austria for conducting prosecutions. Normally a fine is imposed and a deadline is set for supplying the required information, i.e. payment of the fine does not release the farmer from the duty of supplying information; he/she must still provide the data in all cases.        
• After prosecution 24 farmers submitted their data properly – if very late in some cases – to Statistics Austria. 69 farmers did not cooperate at all. Their data had to be imputed.

In case of a census 1=3+4+5

Only for sample survey, in which case 2=3+4+5

This item is a subset of 3.

4>4.1+4.2

5=5.1+5.2

5.1>=5.1.1+5.1.2

6=5.2+5.1.2+4.2

Micro-level processing was carried out by means of extensive plausibility checks. The formal checks on the data involved a plausibility program containing about 196 plausibility rules, which again included all the controls of the Data Suppliers Manual. The types of checks performed were completeness checks, data validation, valid value checks, range checks, relational checks, arithmetic checks, ratio edits.

The plausibility rules made distinctions between the following types of error:

• Automatic errors      
  These were errors that could be automatically corrected using programmed instructions.
• Information errors (100)      
  This mainly involved identifying input errors. Limit values were incorporated into the program for certain items in particular, e.g. to prevent entries being made in the wrong units of measurement (for example m²) in the case of specialised crops. If these limits were exceeded, this fact was reported. Processing staff then had to investigate or use their specialised knowledge to confirm that the data were correct or make the necessary corrections.
• Other errors (96)    
  Processing staff had to correct these, either by recalling/consulting the respondents or on the basis of their specialised knowledge.

Moreover, the nil returns were examined. If, for example, administrative information on the holding was available, the holding was surveyed again. This was done in close collaboration with staff dealing with the Farm Register (or Agricultural and Forestry Register, AFR), as the information from the nil returns (business closure, leasing, etc.) were used for updating the registers.

Tools used for data validation

Application for Plausibility checks

The data sets were checked for missing, incorrect or implausible information, using an extensive plausibility application. The program was developed in cooperation with the IT Dept. Care was taken to ensure that missing, incorrect and implausible entries were detected by the program and either highlighted or immediately corrected. The functionality of the plausibility program was first checked using fictitious holdings. The correction applications contained a number of deliberate errors in order to check whether the program would recognise and report them.

For the FSS 2016 about 81 % of the questionnaires needed further checking due to information errors or "real" errors. This share was higher than in 2013 due to the variables concerning soil and manure management practices. For each holding, all errors and information errors were listed and categorised.

The errors detected (incorrect entries, missing or implausible data) had to be investigated and rectified by the processing team. Errors were eliminated and plausibility checks carried out directly via the application. Holdings for which errors still remain are flagged as incorrect and had to be processed once again. This process was repeated until the program detected no more errors or inconsistencies. The staff themselves could correct logical obvious errors. Frequent meetings of the staff facilitated information flows. Discussing the main issues arising from the work made it easier to standardise the criteria to solve similar situations.

Missing or incorrect entries were completed from other data sources wherever available (e.g. administrative data from IACS or ÖPUL, “total area information” from the social insurance for farmers) to avoid burdening the respondents. The forestry yearbook, containing the areas of Austria’s largest forestry holdings, was another means of checking data. If these sources were not exhaustive, individual items from the 2010 or 2013 Farm Structure Survey were used, wherever possible, to supplement and/or check the data. Where this did not provide clarity, individual holdings had to be contacted by telephone.

Figure: Plausibility application - search function

Level of data validation

At the level of the Electronic questionnaire (respondent/telefone interviewer)

The questionnaire was designed in such a way that certain data items were checked for plausibility and for completeness respectively while being entered or before the questionnaire could be returned, with the result that serious errors did not go undetected and were not accepted. In order not to overload the questionnaire application and make it unnecessarily difficult for the respondents to use, this immediate plausibility check had to be limited to the most important content. Preventive measures were also taken to avoid instances of individual questionnaire sheets inadvertently being "skipped over": the marker was required to enter "The entries on this page are complete" on every page of the questionnaire. The checks in the electronic questionnaire included completeness checks, valid value checks, relational checks.

At the level of the Application for Plausibility checks (processing team) 

Formal checks on the data imported into the database involved the plausibility program mentioned above. 

Non-response because of non-existence of holdings at the time of the data collection: No adaption of sample weights necessary.

In all cases where precision requirements are applicable the precision requirements are met.  The relative standard errors (RSEs) are below the thresholds stipulated in Annex IV "Precision Requirements" of the Regulation 1166/2008. 

Especially in strata with a high weight the extrapolation of variables with a very low frequency may lead to high sampling errors. 

In the case of non-response due to non-existence of holdings (ceased activity) or when holdings fell below the thresholds at the time of the data collection the sample weights were not adapted.

Documents had to be reissued to 955 holdings because they lost or “mislaid” their documents. 4 holdings had their documents sent 2 times.

The target population of the FSS 2016 comprises about 162000 units (national) and 132501 units (EU). 

Per definition the over-coverage rate (EU) would be 14.7%. The proportion of out of scope units in the sample (EU) is 5.6%. 

There were no variables with high measurement errors. Occasionally respondents transfered area data, which was not prefilled by administrative sources (e.g. forest area) from their land register without considering diverging units of area. Others had difficulities to convert masses to volume (national variables - manure application). Errors concerning diverging units of area were detected by checking the data against previous surveys.

In the end 69 units refused to fill in the questionnaire. Their data could be imputed by using administrative or other data-sources (Internet, etc.). As this number is very low and  fairly equally distributed, no further analysis was made.

Item non-response is reduced by the electronic questionnaire, which was designed in such a way that it could only be sent once the compulsory fields had been correctly completed. To prevent individual pages of the questionnaire being inadvertently missed out, a marker was placed on each page of the internet questionnaire which had to be set to signify that the page had been completed. There were also cross-checks between dependent items in the questionnaire (e.g. lifestock - manure). This range of welltargeted measures made it possible to reduce the item non-response rate. In the paper-based questionnaires in previous surveys, variables frequently came back uncompleted.       

In addition, various tests and monitoring measures were carried out during the plausibility checks. Missing data could be imputed after contacting the respondents again or by using other data-sources (internet etc.).

Moreover, the nil returns were examined. If, for example, administrative information on the holding was available, the nil return was rejected and the holding was surveyed again. This was done in close collaboration with staff dealing with the Farm Register (or Agricultural and Forestry Register, AFR), as the information from the nil returns (business closure, leasing, etc.) were used for updating the registers.

0 days (delivery date: 2017/12/20 -   target date: 2017/12/20)

Increased use of administrative data made an adaptation according to the subsidy requirements necessary. The FSS 2016, 2013 and the Agricultural Census 2010 defined, in contrast to previous surveys, the holding as company (main holding) that includes all production units (part holdings) sharing labour and means of production.

In addition according to a national regulation, statistical units include forestry holdings with at least three hectares of wooded area. These holdings, which only have wooded areas, are included in the national results but not in the dataset delivered to Eurostat.

The only significant changes to the survey size criteria were made at national level for the 1999 Farm Structure Survey. The changes involved raising the lower limits for land area and the size of livestock herds. Concerning the units, which are relevant for the FSS at European level, the thresholds, which were set following Austria’s accession to the EU Treaty in 1995, have been maintained/kept unchanged ever since. 

Definitions of variables, already different to EU definitions that do NOT affect the comparability with previous survey (census) data:

• E_1_2,  E_1_3,  E_1_4  and E_1_5 (AWU): The number of hours for a „full-time employee“ was set 2000 hours per year (250 working days of eight hours), whereas the EU Regulation provides for only 1800 hours per year (225 working days of eight hours). As these are only guidelines, and as the European requirements are, according to experts, too low for Austria, the national Working Party of the Agricultural Statistics Advisory Committee decided to increase the number of hours as from the 1995 Farm Structure Survey. This deviation has not changed in time series and can mostly be attributed to specific national circumstances. The worktime percentage bands for the regularly employed  labour force are asked directly by using these bands and on the basis of a 40-hour week. Apparent excessive amounts regarding the labour input (e.g. 100 %  in case of retired people or pupils and students) were reduced considering interacting factors.

National justified changes of the definitions of variables that affect the comparability with previous survey (census) data:

• E_1_5  (Agricultural area utilised for farming by tenant): In the FSS 2016, FSS 2013 and the Agricultural Census 2010, leased areas within the family (e.g. father to son) are valued as rented areas and not as property of the tenant as in previous surveys (before 2010).
• B_4_1_2  (Berry species): Starting with the FSS 2016 elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) was recorded under B_4_6 (Other permanent crops) to ensure a better coherence with crop statistics. Elderberries are used predominantly for industrial purposes.

This approach (separate record) meets the practice of the subsidy system, where common land units themselves can apply for subsidies, are therefore part of administrative data and are treated like other farms. Even though it might be argued that common land does not have any production, any economic value as its economic value is incorporated into the livestock, which graze the common land and which belong to the affiliated agricultural holdings, at least one condition for an agricultural holding is still fulfilled: The maintainance of agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental condition (under 01.61 of NACE Rev. 2).

There were no particular questions and no separate questionnaire for common land units.

In terms of tenure classification common land holdings are recorded as 'common land'. In the survey the land (non-material shares) was not assigned to the individual farms of the members of the agrarian community, as this would bear the risk of double counting.

The common land units are flagged in the dataset. The UAA of the common land is predominantly made up of grassland (99,9996%).

If there is no grazing livestock (i.e. equidae, cattle, sheep or goats) on the holding, the forage (i.e. roots and brassicas, plants harvested green, pasture and meadows) is considered as intended for sale and is part of the general cropping output.

Agrarian communities (predominantly alpine pastures) do not own livestock by themselves. The grazing livestock is owned by the individual members of the community, who have their own holdings, where the livestock is allocated. By definition the forage (i.e. … pasture and meadows) is considered as intended for sale and is part of the general cropping output. In opinion of Statistics Austria an agrarian community managing an alpine pasture should not be equated with cropping farms in this context. 

The UAA recorded under the common land units sums up 188 352 ha.

In Austria the delta (total area minus UAA) are forests and “other land”. In most cases those common land-units are situated in the alpine region; so practically the “other land” comprises infertile land, heaths, rock, scree, marshland, tracks etc..

These holdings are not especially created, so to called virtual holdings, but in fact very concrete holdings.

For the FSS 2016 Statistics Austria could not provide the attribution of common land to the allotted holdings, as this request was addressed very late and additional information and far more time would have been needed for an exact attribution according to the alloted holdings with portion rights (or by the livestock concerned). If is planned by Eurostat to do this attribution in a very global way and automatically on the basis of the NUTS 3 information the following issues should be considered:

• The portion rights do only concern a part of the holdings with grazing livestock in a region. Attributing the areas to all holdings with grazing livestock will create a situation which will not reflect economic reality either. 
• The portion rights can be cross-border matters, for reasons to be found in history (e.g. Italian or German farmers still driving their cattle or sheep to alpine pastures in Austria).

Results regarding common land

The table shows the number of common land holdings compared with the previous sample survey/census data. So far it is not possible to give information on the number of agricultural holdings making use of the common land. 

In most cases those common land-units are situated in the alpine region; so practically the “other land” comprises infertile land, heaths, rock, scree, marshland, tracks etc.. The decline of permanent grassland is caused by various reasons (e.g. an increase of permanent grassland no longer used for production, scrub encroachment and forest growth etc.). But, to a non-negligible extent this trend is superimposed by the following effect: Alpine pastures often have a gradual transition to wooded area or unproductive area (heaths, rock, scree, marshland etc.). It is difficult to divide these areas exactly from the forage areas. With the progressing use of GIS-tools, and aerial photographs this separation of areas is done more exactly than it was done in the past.

Current FSS survey

 * including 70662 LSU of pullets; ** including round 59750 LSU of pullets

The increase is fully in line with the trend for a higher demand for poultry products (eggs and poultry meat). Producers are expanding their capacity accordingly.

The figures include pullets.

Concerning the coherence with other data collections:

As there are no relevant differences with the data of crop production and livestock statistics at macro level no comparisons at microlevel were run.

Coherence with other data sources

There are several other surveys (like livestock survey, crops on arable land, survey of areas under wine, labour force survey etc.) collecting data similar to some individual topics of the FSS. Results of these surveys are only partially comparable with results of the FSS due to different objectives and definitions.

Coherence with IACS data (data of the Agrarmarkt Austria, AMA):

The differences with IACS data on macro data level were caused by minor differences in definitions and methodology (not all holdings are applying for subsidies etc.). For example, IACS data includes the data of 112899 subsidy applicants (14.8% less than the number of agricultural holdings in the FSS 2016) with 2601085 hectares total utilized agricultural area (2.6 % less than in the FSS 2016) with 1340372 hectares arable land (0.3% less than in the FSS 2016).

Coherence with cadastral area:

Concerning area-related evaluations on regional level it must be noted that all areas of the FSS are related with the agricultural and forestry holdings (location of the main holding). Therefore regional summations of areas are not comparable with the area indicated in the cadastre. 

Coherence with the survey of areas under wine:

According to the definition of the survey of vineyard areas 2015 (without area threshold), 14133 holdings with a cultivated vineyard area of 45574 ha were recorded. According to the statistics on wine production 2016 the production area was 46487 ha. The FSS 2016, in contrast, covered vineyards with an area lower limit of 0.25 ha and recorded 11403 holdings with a cultivated vineyard area of 46728 ha (including temporary inoperative or cleared vineyard area).

Coherence with crop production:

There are no relevant differences. 

Coherence with livestock data:

Minimal differences between results of the FSS and results of livestock census or the Veterinary Information System can be attributed to different reference dates or survey thresholds.  

Coherence with business statistics:

In according to the legal basis, the FSS has to record the production potential of the agricultural and forestry sector. This means collecting data about areas, livestock, labour force and other specific variables of holdings reaching certain threshold values regarding size of area or livestock. In this regard it does not matter whether these holdings are conducted on a full time or part time basis. The FSS considers only the part of an enterprise dealing with agriculture and forestry as well as related variables; in contrast to the business statistics, results are not classified depending on the main focus of the holdings.

Coherence with labour force survey:

The main focus of the labour force survey is on persons employed while the FSS reports labour force data for measuring agricultural and forestry labour inputs; that means that the FSS is recording also partially employed family members (regardless their principal employment) and persons in retirement. Thus, comparing results concerning labour force of the FSS with results of the general labour force survey is only partially meaningful due to basic methodical differences.

• Individual data on each holding unit in accordance with EU criteria and requirements were transmitted to Eurostat via eDAMIS for entry in the Eurofarm data base and publication purposes.

Publication of results at national level 

Publication of the results of the 2016 Farm Structure Survey were scheduled to take place as follows:

• Press release preliminary information  
  The most important data were available in the form of a press release containing preliminary national information on June 27, 2017. The press release was made available on the Internet at http://www.statistik.at/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_PDF_FILE&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=113147. 
• Press release final data 
  Final data were available in the form of a press release containing final national information in January 2018. The press release was made available on the Internet at http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/wirtschaft/land_und_forstwirtschaft/agrarstruktur_flaechen_ertraege/index.html.
• Summary report      
  Furthermore, a summary report containing the results and meta information was published in January 2018.            
  Pursuant to the Federal Statistics Act 2000, BGBl. I No 163/1999, as last amended by BGBl. I No 136/2001, BGBl. I No 71/2003, BGBl. I No 92/2007, BGBl. I No 125/2009, BGBl. I No. 111/2010 and BGBl. I No 40/2014. Statistics Austria is obliged to make the main results available via the Internet free of charge. They are available at www.statistik.at.   
  The summary report is available on the Internet free of charge as a pdf file.
• Statistical Yearbook of Austria      
  Various Statistics Austria publications contain contributions setting out the results of the FSS.           
  These publications, which include a CD-ROM, are also available for a fee. They can also be downloaded as pdf files free of charge at www.statistik.at/web_de/services/stat_jahrbuch/index.html.
• Standard tables on the Statistics Austria homepage
• STATcube – Statistics Austria’s statistical database
• Standard documentation; meta-information        
  (Definitions, explanatory notes, methods, quality)  
  Concepts, definitions and explanations relating to the information on the FSS 2016, plus notes on the methods used and on quality, are available end of October 2018 free of charge, in a standardised form, at www.statistik.at .

Data transmission to the LFBIS (Agricultural and Forestry Holdings Information System)       
The Regulation governing the Farm Structure Survey obliges Statistics Austria to transmit the data to the Federal Minister of Agriculture for entry in the LFBIS.

• Press release preliminary information      June 27, 2017
• Press release final data                              January 2018
• Summary report final data                         January 2018
• Standard tables                                          starting with December 29, 2017
• STATcube                                                  starting with January 2018
• Statistical Yearbook and further tables    starting 2018
• Standard documentation; meta-information    October 2018

• Press release: http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/wirtschaft/land_und_forstwirtschaft/agrarstruktur_flaechen_ertraege/betriebsstruktur/index.html
• Summary report: http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/wirtschaft/land_und_forstwirtschaft/agrarstruktur_flaechen_ertraege/betriebsstruktur/index.html  
• Standard tables: http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/wirtschaft/land_und_forstwirtschaft/agrarstruktur_flaechen_ertraege/betriebsstruktur/index.html
• STATcube:  http://www.statistik.at/web_de/services/statcube/index.html
• Standard documentation; meta-information: http://www.statistik.at/web_de/dokumentationen/Land-undForstwirtschaft/index.html  

STATcube is the statistical database system of Statistics Austria —  a contemporary product characterised by a user friendly interface. It enables to conduct data analyses and create data reports online in different formats according to various requirements. STATcube is available online at www.statcube.com.  

A subscription provides access to more detailed data and additional features not available with the free guest access. This Guest access can be used to assess whether the purchase of a subscription is worthwhile. The database includes features which can only be fully accessed by subscribers (labelled with the tag [partly ABO]) and other features only accessible to subscribers (labelled with the tag [ABO]). Please note: the abbreviation "ABO" stands for the German translation of the term "subscription ".

Statistik Austria

consultations: 7.11.2017 03:00

S:  STATcube – Statistical Database STATISTICS AUSTRIA

Under the Federal Act on the Information System for Agricultural and Forestry Holdings (LFBIS Act) BGBl. No 448/1980, as amended by BGBl. No 597/1981 and BGBl. No 505/1994 § 3 (1), data obtained in the course of surveys ordered by regulation of the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry on the basis of the Federal Statistics Act must be forwarded to the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry insofar as this was ordered in said regulation.

In accordance with EU regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 anonymised individual data must be transferred to Eurostat.