FPS Economy SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy - Statbel (Directorate-general Statistics - Statistics Belgium)

Thematic Directorate Economie

Boulevard du Roi Albert II, 16, North Gate III , 

1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Until 2007 (for 35 years) the Statistics Belgium have been organizing annually an agricultural census to comply with different European obligations, among which the regulation on the farm structure surveys. Although the farm structure surveys don’t have to be carried out each year, Belgium has decided to hold one annual survey by all agricultural holdings rather than to do different purposive surveys.

In 2008 Belgium decided to replace the census by a sample survey of 75% in order to reduce the burden for farmers. Only in 2010 all Member States were obliged to carry out a census.

Since 2011 the Statistics Belgium has begun to use administrative crop data to reduce the burden for the farmers even  more.

So the farm structure survey of 2013 was a sample survey that was filled out by 75% of the farmers and where all the characteristics on land were replaced by administrative data.

The farm structure survey of 2016 has been carried out as a census  in October 2016 instead of May in the past. As in 2013 characteristics on land were administrative data. Characteristics on cattle and pigs where replaced by administrative data complemented with survey characteristics.

The legal basis of the agricultural survey was laid down in the Royal decree of September 1, 2012 relating to the organisation of an annual agricultural survey in May. This Royal decree was based on the law of July 4, 1962 concerning public statistics, modified by the law of August 1, 1985 and (modified by the law of) March 22, 2006. 

The participation in the survey is obligatory.

Persons who waive  making a declaration or who don’t give the precise and complete information are punishable by a fine, as set down in the statistics law.

Survey carried out without enumerators (by post and on-line survey) 

- FPS: Federal Public Service.

- SMEs: Small and Medium Sized enterprises.

- FEAGA: Le Fond européen agricole de garantie.

- FEADER: Le Fond européen agricole pour le développement rural.

National definition of a holding: each holding producing farm products or horticultural products for sale as principle or secondary activity, or each holding maintaining its land which is no longer used for production purposes in good agricultural and environmental condition. Nature reserves without agriculture activity are excluded. These holdings are only maintaining the landscape (heather, forest,  …).

The agricultural holding in 2016 is a single unit, both technically and economically  and with a single management, except for a few cases which occurred because a few farmers are doing one declaration for several single units.

The IACS register in Belgium is very large and contains also holdings that do not produce for sale. It contains also horse-riding centres, horse stud farms, livestock dealers, etc. We filter them out. If it is not clear that they produce for sale we contact the holdings for clarification.

The thresholds in the holding register are lower than those specified in the Regulation 1166/2008:

- At least 2 ha of UAA or 50 ares of land under greenhouse;

- Production of animal manure equivalent (at least) of 300 kg P2O5;

The criteria of 2 ha of UAA or 0.5 ha land under greenhouses are criteria for the holdings which do not apply for subsidies. As soon as a holding applies for 1 subsidy (see all the legal bases in concept 3.1 Source data - item 4.1 Name, time reference and updating) they are represented in the holding register (whatever their area is). So, very small farmers under the Eurostat thresholds are included if they applied for subsidies. 

The same coverage as mentioned above in concept 2.6 Statistical population - item 2.

 41 holdings have a SO equal to zero:

• 18 holdings were holdings without poultry in 2016 but are still active.
• 1 holding without pigs in 2016 but is still active.
• 1 holding that did only contractual agricultural work in 2016. This holding declared 22ha cereals and potatoes in 2015. This holding is still active.
• 1 holding with production of renewable energy and that forces roots of chicory.
• 1 holding with 10 ha wooded area (rural development support: afforestation and creation of woodland).
• 9 holdings declared fallow land that is kept in good agricultural environmental conditions.
• 10 holdings with only pullets. The pullets are not economically valued.

The thresholds in the IACS register are lower than the thresholds for the farm structure surveys.

- At least 2 ha of arable land or 50 ares of land under greenhouse;

- Production of animal manure equivalent (at least) of 300 kg P2O5;

The calculation of the number of animals producing 300 kg phosphate in a year depends on the composition of the livestock:

- For cattle the average is 30 kg P2O5/animal /year. So it means 10 bovines;

- For pigs the average is about 10 kg P2O5/animal /year which corresponds to 30 animals. This is lower than the 50 pigs in the regulation.

- For poultry the average is about 0.5 kg P2O5/animal /year. This corresponds to 600 animals (lower than the 1000 animals in the regulation).

These are criteria for the holdings which do not apply for subsidies. As soon as a holding applies for 1 subsidy (see all the legal bases in concept 3.1 Source data - item 4.1 Name, time reference and updating) it is represented in the holding register (whatever their areas are). So, very small farmers under the Eurostat thresholds are included if they apply for subsidies.

The administrative building (this is mostly also the residence of the farmer) 

1. Definition of the survey objective and requirements:

- October 2015 – March 2016 : workgroup on the survey characteristics (analyse and content of the survey forms)

- October 2016 : workgroup on the dissemination of the results

2. Survey design:

- October 2015: Set-up organization:

- March 2016  –  end July 2016: drawing-up questionnaires (in Dutch, French and German)

- March 2016 – September 2016: design of data processing (input programs and data entry)

- February 2016 – June 2016 : drawing-up and updating farm register

- June 2016 – August  2016: configuration of the follow-up tool

 3. Data collection:

- August 2016  - September 2016: upload population in the follow-up tool

- October 2016: sending of the forms

- October 2016 – April 2017: reception of the completed forms

- November 2016 – April 2017 : sending letters of reminder and telephonic reminders

 4. Data processing and validation:

- November  2016 – April 2017: data entry

- February 2017 – July 2017: data validation and correction

5. Data compilation:

- February 2017 – May 2017: Integration of final administrative data (area, cattle and pigs)

- February 2017 – July 2017: analyses and calculation of the results – first part (area and animals)

- February 2017 – August 2017: calculation of the results and analysis – second part (other characteristics)

- June 2017 – December 2017 : Imputations for non-respondents

6. Dissemination:

- August 2017: national dissemination of the results on several geographical levels (first part: area and animals)

- December 2017: sending a first version of microdata to Eurostat

- April 2018: national dissemination second part of the results (other characteristics)

Thematic Directorate Territory / Thematic Directorate Economie

Data Collection Enterprises

Directorate Methodology

The list of farm holdings and cultivated areas are provided by regional administrations responsible for the IACS.

Data for cattle and pigs are administrative data from SANITEL (registration system of animals) combined with the  survey.

The rural development measures are taken from a register by regional administrations.

For the other characteristics Belgium had conducted a census. 

The list of farm holdings and cultivated areas are provided by regional administrations responsible for the IACS and SANITEL from the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain.

Not applicable. 

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Not applicable. 

AREA:

The legal basis refers to IACS and the Rural Development Measures . The characteristics for the Rural Development Measures are not included in the IACS register.

Time reference is March 2016 for the Walloon declarations and April 2016 for the Flemish declarations. Updating by the farmers is allowed until October.

Regional Decrees and Governmental Decisions in application of the European regulation concerning the area declarations.

 Flemish Region :

• Het decreet van 22 december 2006 houdende inrichting van een gemeenschappelijke identificatie van landbouwers, exploitaties en landbouwgrond in het kader van het meststoffenbeleid en van het landbouwbeleid, en zijn uitvoeringsbepalingen.
• Het decreet van 22 december 2006 houdende de bescherming van water tegen de verontreiniging door nitraten uit agrarische bronnen, en zijn uitvoeringsbesluiten.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 8 juli 2005 tot instelling van een bedrijfstoeslagregeling en bepaalde gebonden steunregelingen voor landbouwers en tot toepassing van de randvoorwaarden.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 9 februari 2007 houdende bepalingen tot inrichting van een gemeenschappelijke identificatie van landbouwers, exploitaties en landbouwgrond in het kader van het meststoffenbeleid en van het landbouwbeleid.
• Ministerieel besluit van 13 augustus 2009 betreffende de vaststelling van de modaliteiten tot instelling van een bedrijfstoeslagregeling en tot vaststelling van bepaalde steunregelingen voor landbouwers en tot toepassing van de randvoorwaarden.
• Ministerieel besluit van 19 augustus 2009 tot instelling van een bedrijfstoeslagregeling en tot vaststelling van bepaalde steunregelingen voor landbouwers en tot toepassing van de randvoorwaarden voor wat betreft de uitvoering van de gedeelde bevoegdheden met het oog op de inrichting van een gemeenschappelijke identificatie van landbouwers, exploitaties en landbouwgrond in het kader van het meststoffenbeleid en van het landbouwbeleid.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 21 december 2007 tot het verlenen van subsidies voor de uitvoering van agromilieumaatregelen met toepassing van het Vlaams Programma voor Plattelandsontwikkeling (PDPO).
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 5 september 2014 tot het verlenen van subsidies voor de uitvoering van agromilieu- en klimaatmaatregelen met toepassing van het Vlaams Programma voor Plattelandsontwikkeling voor de periode 2014- 2020.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 4 juli 2014 tot het verlenen van hectaresteun voor de biologische productiemethode met toepassing van het Vlaamse Programma voor Plattelandsontwikkeling voor de periode 2014-2020.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 6 juni 2008 betreffende het sluiten van beheerovereenkomsten en het toekennen van vergoedingen ter uitvoering van Verordening (EG) nr. 1698/2005 van de Raad van 20 september 2005 inzake steun voor plattelandsontwikkeling.
• Het ministerieel besluit van 11 juni 2008 betreffende het sluiten van beheerovereenkomsten en het toekennen van vergoedingen ter uitvoering van Verordening (EG) nr. 1698/2005 van de Raad van 20 september 2005 inzake steun voor plattelandsontwikkeling.
• Het besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 19 september 2014 tot het verlenen van subsidies voor beheerovereenkomsten met toepassing van Verordening (EU) nr. 1305/2013 van het Europees Parlement en de Raad van 17 december 2013 inzake steun voor plattelandsontwikkeling uit het Europees Landbouwfonds voor plattelandsontwikkeling.

Walloon Region:

• L’introduction du formulaire de ‘déclaration de superficie et demande d’aides 2016’ est réalisée en toute connaissance de la réglementation européenne et wallonne en vigueur, dont notamment, les prescriptions contenues dans les Règlements (CE) n° 73/2009, 1698/2005, ainsi que leurs règlements d’application (notamment les Règlements (CE) n° 1974/2006, 1975/2006, 380/200 9, 484/2009, 1120/2009 et 1122/2009) et 65/2011.
• L’introduction d’une déclaration de superficie ne donne pas nécessairement droit aux aides sollicitées.
• En application du Règlement européen (CE) n°259/2008 de la Commission européenne du 18 mars 2008,chaque état membre est tenu de publier un certain nombre d’informations relatives aux bénéficiaires des aides de la politique agricole commune (PAC), qu’elles relèvent du FEAGA et du FEADER, à l’exception des personnes physiques (arrêt de la Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne du 9 novembre 2011).

CATTLE AND PIGS:

SANITEL is the Belgium computerised management system for the identification, registration and supervision of animals (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, poultry).

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. 

The Statistics Belgium has received the written agreement for the access to administrative data for areas on July 2011 for Flanders. The access to administrative data for areas from Wallonia are based to date on a gentlemen’s agreement.

There is a written agreement (February 2011) with the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain for the exchange of data.

Only Flanders asks for our opinion when changes are made in the characteristics or definitions of their registers (holding register or IACS).

IACS

IACS is used as population.

IACS

In IACS, there are a few farmers who are doing one declaration for several single units. This means that the data recorded in a single record (agricultural holding) covers more than one agricultural holding. (But the reverse also happens.) The problem occurs for only a few cases.

IACS

It is impossible to convert the data because in the administrative data on area we cannot see which parcel belongs to which single unit.

Statbel waits 2 years before including new holdings. So, the new holdings from 2014 were included but not those from 2015. This is because there are new holdings that are doing only once a declaration to IACS and then become sleeping holdings.

Double counting of the holdings is avoided when the two registers are merged together to one national register.

Not relevant.

All metadata are systematically stored as SAS-files in the data warehouse and maintained over time.

In Flanders Region, the definition of the reporting unit is based on the management autonomy for the agricultural activities and means of production. One “exploitatie” (agricultural holding) may have many “exploitants” (farmers). An agricultural holding has to be entered into the register if one or several of the following conditions is met :

-  At least 2 ha of arable land or 50 ares of land under greenhouse;

-  Production of animal manure equivalent (at least) of 300 kg P2O5;

-  In case of activation of a payment entitlement per eligible hectare;

-  The holding has milk quotas or suckler cow quotas;

-  The holding get grant from the Vlaams Landbouwinvesteringsfonds (Agricultural Investment Found);

-  The holding receives slaughtering premiums for calves.

In Walloon Region, the register includes all the farmers who submits a premium application (and thus are identified in the IACS) and/or who have to comply with the Nitrate Directive (2000/L0060). 

Every three years.

Websurvey + self-completed paper questionnaires 

Entering the data online by the holder + data entering by FPS Economy SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy - Statistics Belgium 

Call-back strategies, written / telephone reminders, contacting respondents who have only partly completed the questionnaires 

Number of holdings in the survey frame plus possible (new) holdings added afterwards

In case of a census 1=3+4+5

Number of holdings in the gross sample plus possible (new) holdings added to the sample

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

613

Number of ineligible holdings with ceased activities

This item is a subset of 3.

Number of holdings with unknown eligibility status

4>4.1+4.2

Number of eligible holdings

5=5.1+5.2

Number of eligible non-responding holdings

5.1>=5.1.1+5.1.2

32 600

Number of the records in the dataset 

6=5.2+5.1.2+4.2

Completeness checks, routing, consistency, relational checks

Tools used for data validation

Blaise and SAS

Level of data validation 

- When completing the questionnaire online by the farmer ;

- Data entry by the local collection centers;

- Additional validation while analyzing the data.

 Not applicable. 

 Not applicable. 

 Not applicable. 

 Not applicable. 

Characteristics surveyed only for national purposes:

- The presence of an eventually successor for the farmholder

- Short food supply scheme

- Ware potatoes

The users of those characteristics are: the regional administrations of agriculture and environmental, the national Bank of Belgium, professional organizations, research centers, universities.

- More detailed information about livestock was surveyed to comply with the Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008 of 19 November 2008 concerning livestock and meat statistics and repealing Council Directives 93/23/EEC, 93/24/EEC and 93/25/EEC. 

- Information about milk processing at farmlevel was surveyed to comply with the milk statistics.

Please access the information in the file at the following link: (link available as soon as possible)

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Statbel waits 2 years before including new holdings. So, the new holdings from 2014 were included but not those from 2015. This is because there are new holdings that are doing only once a declaration to IACS and then become sleeping holdings. To avoid this phenomenon, Statbel waits to have two successive declarations.

The source covers studs, cattle dealers, private persons which have a few horses for horse riding or have a few animals for their own consumption. 
These categories have been left out from the farm register.

Not available. 

There was no misclassification. 

They were considered as non response.

Not available. 

1.6%.

The over-coverage rate is calculated by dividing the number of ineligible units  to the number of units in the sampling frame. However the register contains only the farm holdings that are supposed to be active at the moment of the survey. The register was established in February. Meanwhile some holdings stopped their activities between the compilation of the register and the survey in October.

When the values were too high or when there was an incoherency in the data we contacted the farmer and asked to correct their data. High values were detected by using thresholds. There is no specific list of characteristics. It can occur to every numeric characteristic.

Some high values were found in the agricultural activities on the farm of the family and non-family labour force (E_1_3 and E_1_4).  Instead of giving the number of persons working on the farm, numbers of hours were given. This was mainly due to the changing of questioning compared to the past.

Some wrong values were given in the section ‘Manure’ (M_6_5, M_6_6 and M_6_7). In the questionnaire there was asked to give % and farmers gave ha. This was due to the complexity of the characteristics.

The non-response rate was 11,6% in 2016. The non-response rate has increased in 2016 because the survey was conducted as a census with a huge burden for the farmer.

No non-response analysis was made. 

Unit non-response was covered by imputation.

Forms that were  not properly or completed filled in and where it was not possible to contact the farmer were considered  as a non-responding unit or partially non-responding item. For those characteristics or holdings imputations have been done.

The non-response rate was 11,6% in 2016. 

Not available. 

The imputation method depends on the groups of variables to be imputed. The methods used are the closest neighbor, linear regression, logistic regression with random imputation according to the probabilities obtained.

There is no available assessment of processing errors affecting individual observations.

Wrong data were corrected immediately after contacting the farmer.

Belgium publishes only a revision for their statistics when errors are discovered after data have been placed in the public domain.

The FSS dataset in Belgium is not placed in the public domain, so there is no revision.

There was no revision for the FSS. 

4 months (only area and livestock) after the end of the reference year 2016

The majority of the holdings in the farm structure survey are single units. In IACS which is used as population, there are a few farmers who are doing one declaration for several single units. This means that the data recorded in a single record (agricultural holding) covers more than one agricultural holding. (But the reverse also happens.) The problem occurs for only a few cases. It’s impossible to convert the data because in the administrative data on area we cannot see which parcel belongs to which single unit.

There is no difference between the population covered in the national survey and the population covered by the records sent to Eurostat.

Following handbook is used for the definitions: Handbook on implementing the FSS and SAPM definitions – REV 10.

There is no difference between the national and EU definitions of characteristics.

Number of hours per year for a full-time:1800 hours  (225 days of 8 hours). But this is only used to calculate the AWU of non-family members non-regularly employed.

For the calculation of the AWU of the persons that are regularly employed following coefficients are used:

- The farm work on the holding is 0%: coefficient=0

- The farm work on the holding is >0% - <25%: coefficient=0,125

- The farm work on the holding is 25% - <50%: coefficient=0,375

- The farm work on the holding is 50% - <75%: coefficient=0,625

- The farm work on the holding is 75% - <100%: coefficient=0,875

- The farm work on the holding is 100%: coefficient=1

Common land does not exist in Belgium

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

 Not applicable

There are no differences 

There were no changes of definition.

There were no changes in coverage.

The data on organic crops (areas) were provided from administrative sources. These sources fit with the IACS.

The data on cattle and pigs were provided from administrative sources (SANITEL).

The reference day for livestock characteristics changed from 15 May to 15 October.

The reference period for labour force characteristics changed from 1 May - 30 April to 1 October - 30 September.

Because of the very high sampling rate in 2013 (75%) and a census in 2016, no change could be attributed to sampling variability. 

Not applicable. 

Not applicable. 

Due to the constant improvement of the farm register, the number of holdings decreased less than in the past. This results in a slight increase of the utilised agricultural area and arable land.

Due to the constant improvement of the farm register, the number of holdings decreased less than in the past. This results in a slight increase of the utilised agricultural area and arable land.

Due to the constant improvement of the farm register, the number of holdings decreased less than in the past. This results in a slight increase of the utilised agricultural area and arable land.

The reference day changed from 15 May to 15 October. In May 2013 the lambs were included.

Over the years the number of legal holdings increases and the number of individual holdings decreases. This phenomenon results in the decrease of family labor and increase of non-family labor. 

In 2016 there was one data collection for all agricultural statistics.

In 2016 there was one data collection for all agricultural statistics.

The users can download these excel-tables from our website.

 April 2017: Crops and animals.

 May 2018 : Other characteristics (labour force; other gainful activities, type of tenure, organic farming)

The different standard tables are available on http://statbel.fgov.be

The standard excel-tables are available on our website: http://statbel.fgov.be

 Not available.

Micro-data are disseminated only with an official agreement of the Commission for the protection of Privacy. Requests for micro-data are therefore dealt on case by case basis. 

There is no methodological documentation available. There is only a methodological note included in the standard tables. 

Not available.

There is no documentation available on quality. 

We use as far as possible administrative data. For 2016 : almost all the cultivated areas were provided by the IACS, cattle and pigs were provided by SANITEL (registration system of animals). 

Strict confidentiality of all collected data is laid down by the Statistics law of July 4, 1962.

For tables with size classes, the classes with less than 3 holdings are regrouped. If it isn’t possible to regroup them we put ‘:’.

Results at municipal level: the results are not disseminated when there are less than 5 holdings in the municipality. We aggregate all these municipalities to one municipality called ‘confidential municipalities’.

For microdata: only anonymous microdata are transmitted.

The use of administrative data for labour force.

Not available.