All the data within this article come from farm structure surveys, also referred to as surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings. These surveys are carried out by all EU Member States every ten years (the full scope being the agricultural census), with intermediate sample surveys being carried out three times between the main surveys.
The legal basis for the farm structure survey is Regulation 1166/2008 of 19 November 2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods.
The basic unit underlying the farm structure survey is the agricultural holding: a technical-economic unit, under single management, engaged in agricultural production. The survey covers all agricultural holdings with utilised agricultural area of at least one hectare, as well as smaller holdings of less than one hectare if their market production exceeds certain thresholds.
The Member States collect information from individual agricultural holdings; the information covers land use, livestock numbers, rural development, management and farm labour input. The survey data can be summed at different geographic levels to produce aggregates for the Member States, regions, and for main (ten-yearly) surveys also districts. The data can also be arranged by size class, area status, legal status of the holding, objective zone and farm type