Archive:Cropping and livestock pattern statistics
- Data from June 2010, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article presents an overview of statistical data on the impact of agriculture on the environment. Farming can have beneficial influences on the environment, for instance in creating valuable landscapes and habitats. But inappropriate agricultural practices and land use can also have an adverse impact on natural resources, like the pollution of soil, water and air, fragmentation of habitats and loss of wildlife.
The links between the richness of the natural environment and farming practices are complex. Agri-environmental indicators (AEI) are used to quantify and describe these complex relations between agricultural and agri-environmental policies, agricultural practices and the environment. AEI assess trends over time of (1) the effects of agriculture on the environment, and (2) the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural and environmental policy measures.
There are 28 indicators relating to farming practices, agricultural production systems, pressures and risk to the environment and the state of natural resources. In this article data will be presented on a selection of these indicators:
- Energy consumption by agriculture.
- Cropping patterns.
- Livestock patterns.
- Specialisation.
- Irrigation.
Main statistical findings
Energy consumption by agriculture
Analysis File:Figure 1 Final energy consumption by agriculture in utilised agricultural area, 2007.png Figure 1 : Final energy consumption by agriculture in utilised agricultural area, 2007
The share of agriculture in final energy consumption in the EU-27 on average has been steadily declining from 2.7% in 2000 to 2.4% in 2007. The total consumption of energy by agriculture in the EU-27 has decreased by 7%, from 29 939 in 2005 to 27 826 kilo tonnes of oil equivalent in 2007. Figure 1 shows the final energy consumption by agriculture in kilograms of oil equivalents per hectare (KgOE/ha) of utilised agricultural area (UAA), in EU-27 Member States, in 2007. In the new Member States the energy consumed by agriculture per hectare UUA (118 KgOE/ha, excluding Malta) is on average lower than in the old Member States (178 KgOE/ha, but only 147 KgOE/ha if the Netherlands are excluded) In EU-27, the average energy consumption is 161 KgOE/ha.
Data sources and availability
Context
Around 40 % of the EU’s total land area is farmed. This fact alone highlights the importance of farming for the EU’s natural environment. The links between the two, however, are complex. On the one hand, farming has contributed over the centuries to creating and maintaining a variety of valuable semi-natural habitats and agricultural landscapes. While many of these are maintained by different farming practices and a wide range of wild species rely on this for their survival, agriculture can also have an adverse impact on natural resources. Pollution of soil, water and air, fragmentation of habitats, and a loss of wildlife can result from agricultural practices and land use. Managing this complex relationship has required the integration of environmental concerns and safeguards into the Common agricultural policy. In particular, close attention is paid to reducing the risk of environmental degradation through cross-compliance criteria (as a condition for benefiting from direct payments from the CAP, farmers must comply with certain requirements, some related to environmental protection), incentives and targeted environmental measures, and encouraging farmers to support the sustainability of agro-ecosystems. The importance attached to assessing the interaction between agriculture and the environment is underlined by the fact that the European Commission adopted a list of 28 agri-environmental indicators (COM(2006) 508 final) in 2006.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Building agro environmental indicators – Focussing on the European area frame survey LUCAS
- Food safety statistics – Inventory of data available in the EU Member States, EFTA and candidate countries
Main tables
- Organic farming (t_org)
- Area under organic farming (tsdpc440)
- Organic crop area (fully converted area) (tag00098)
Database
- Agriculture (agri), see:
- Organic farming (org)
- Organic crop area (food_in_porg1)
- Organic crop production and yields from fully converted areas (food_in_porg2)
- Organic livestock (food_in_porg3)
- Number of registered organic operators (food_act2)
- Number of registered operators processing and importing products issued from organic farming (food_act3)
- Production of organic animal products (food_pd_dmorg)
- Food consumption (food_ch)
- From production to distribution – Which quality label and at which price (food_pd)
- Inputs to the food chain (food_in)
- Actors involved in the food chain (food_act)
Dedicated section
Other information
- Council Regulation 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products
External links
- European Commission - Organic Farming
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Natural Resources & Environment