Obsolescence and Innovation in Economic Statistics on Agriculture

Abstract

SummaryA re‐engineering of the systems for producing economic statistics for EU agriculture is advocated to make them more appropriate to the issues that are presently faced. In particular, the basic unit of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) should be shifted from the fictional ‘holding’ to the complete business, which in most cases is the farm household‐firm. This should allow a much sounder explanation of investment, farm viability and many aspects of business behaviour. Balance sheets will be complete and more meaningful. A wider range of policies could be serviced. This implies that FADN's coverage needs to be expanded to collect additional data on, for example, household income and environmental items. Many national farm accounts surveys already gather some of this material for national policy purposes. At the EU level, the legal status of the FADN Farm Return is an impediment to this expansion, and ways to achieve greater flexibility need to be explored. But even within present constraints there are several likely innovations within data handling systems that would enhance the usefulness of FADN, such as an improved ability to trace single businesses over time. Improved knowledge exchange among FADN providers and users is a likely way forward.