800 Agri farms reduce in country in a year

There were 46,800 agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland in 2019 and the number of farms decreased by about 800 from the previous year, according to the final data in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises.

The number of large farms of more than 100 hectares increased, while that of farms of less than 100 hectares either decreased or remained unchanged in all field size categories, said a press release issued by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

The farms with the largest field areas were located in Southwest Finland, where the average farm size was 60 hectares. The average field area was 59 hectares in Uusimaa and 58 hectares in Northern Ostrobothnia. The smallest farms were in Southern Savonia, where the average field area was 32 hectares. In Lapland, the average field area was 34 hectares. In the whole of Finland, the average farm size was 49 hectares in 2019.

The average field area of farms has been growing by about one hectare per year for several years. However, there is high variation between different regions.

“In Southwest Finland, for example, the average field area has grown by 14 hectares since 2010, while the corresponding figure in Central Finland and Lapland has only been four hectares over the same period,” said Jaana Kyyrä, senior statistician of Luke.

Farms have broadened their range of crops. Other crop production was the primary production line on 34 per cent of all farms, while cereal production was the primary production line on 32 per cent of all farms.

Greenhouse production and outdoor production of horticultural crops was the primary production line on four per cent of all farms. This means that crop production was the primary production line on nearly 33,000 farms in 2019.

Domestic animal farming was the primary production line on 26 per cent of all farms. The remaining four per cent were mixed farms with no clear primary production line. In 2019, some 12,000 farms had domestic animal farming as their primary production line.

Cattle farming was the primary production line on nearly 20 per cent of all farms. Of all cattle farms, more than half were dairy farms. Sheep, goat or horse farming was the primary production line on four per cent of all farms. Pig farming and poultry farming each were the primary production line on only one per cent of all farms.