About these statistics (metadata)
Published 13 June 2024
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/farm-practices-survey-february-2024/about-these-statistics-metadata
Survey methodology
The Farm Practices Survey (FPS) – February edition is usually run annually and collects information on a diverse range of topics usually related to the impact of farming practices on the environment.
These results are from the FPS run in February 2024. The survey largely focused on practices relating to greenhouse gas mitigation, similar in content to FPS surveys run in February over recent years. Topics covered include nutrient and manure management, anaerobic digestion, emissions, fertiliser, manure and slurry spreaders and storage, farm health planning, grassland and grazing and livestock breeding and feeding practices. Where comparisons with earlier years are possible, the results are displayed alongside those from previous years.
Following a consultation, we have made changes to the survey design for some questions this year. These are:
Section 1 (Soil nutrient management) and Section 7 (Grassland and grazing) now include new questions on funding.
Section 3 (Emissions) no changes were made to the questions but, we have added extra response options to the question what actions are you taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from your farm?
Section 5 (Manure and slurry storage) This year we have changed the question asking about the type of slurry storage and now ask for the percentage of slurry stored by each type of facility. We have also included an additional question asking if there is no further storage, approximately what percentage of slurry is either spread direct from house or exported off farm? and for the first time we now also ask similar questions on the storage of solid manure.
The results provided here for 2024 are based on questions sent to approximately 7,000 holdings in England. These holdings were targeted by farm type and size to ensure a representative sample. The survey was voluntary and the response rate was approximately 19%.
Thresholds were applied to ensure that very small holdings with little agricultural activity were not included in the survey. To be included in the main sample, holdings had to have at least 50 cattle, 100 sheep, 100 pigs, 1,000 poultry or 20 hectares of arable crops or orchards. Therefore, all results given in this statistical release reflect almost 56 thousand holdings that exceed these thresholds out of the total English population of around 102 thousand commercial holdings.
A breakdown of the number of holdings within the population and the sample are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Sample design
| Farm type | Number of eligible holdings in England | Number of holdings sampled | Response rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cereals | 14,575 | 1,474 | 22 |
| Other crops | 5,623 | 980 | 19 |
| Pigs & poultry | 3,404 | 781 | 13 |
| Dairy | 5,107 | 1,000 | 20 |
| Grazing livestock (LFA) | 7,758 | 798 | 20 |
| Grazing livestock (lowland) | 14,581 | 1,418 | 17 |
| Mixed | 4,892 | 602 | 20 |
| All farms | 55,940 | 7,053 | 19 |
Data analysis
Results have been analysed using a standard methodology for stratified random surveys to produce national estimates. With this method, all the data are weighted according to the inverse sampling fraction.
Accuracy and reliability of the results
We show 95% confidence intervals against the results. These show the range of values that may apply to the figures. They mean that we are 95% confident that this range contains the true value. They are calculated as the standard errors (se) multiplied by 1.96 to give the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The standard errors only give an indication of the sampling error. They do not reflect any other sources of survey errors, such as non-response bias.
Definitions
Where reference is made to the type of farm in this document, this refers to the ‘robust type’, which is a standardised farm classification system. Farm sizes are based on the estimated labour requirements for the holding, rather than its land area. The farm size bands used within the detailed results tables which accompany this publication are shown in the table below. Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) is defined as the theoretical number of workers required each year to run a holding, based on its cropping and livestock activities.
| Farm size | Definition |
|---|---|
| Small | Less than 2 SLR |
| Medium | 2 to less than 3 SLR |
| Large | 3 or more SLR |
Availability of results
This release contains headline results for each topic. The full breakdown of results, by region, farm type and farm size can be found on the Farm Practices Survey statistics collection page.
Other Defra statistical notices can be viewed on the Defra website.
Data uses
The Farm Practices survey is used to investigate the impact of farming on the environment and to provide up to date agri-environment information on current issues to help inform policy decisions. The survey has a wide customer base both internal and external to Defra including Natural England, English Heritage, ADAS, the Environment Agency and the NFU.
Data from the Farm Practices Survey are used in Defra’s greenhouse gas (GHG) indicator framework. The framework, initially developed as part of the 2012 review of progress in reducing GHG emissions from English agriculture, consists of ten key indicators covering farmer attitudes and knowledge, the uptake of mitigation methods and the GHG emission intensity of production (GHG produced per tonne of crop or litre of milk or kilogramme of meat produced) in key agricultural sectors. Information from the survey also feeds into the Defra publication, Agricultural Statistics and Climate Change which provides background context to the current understanding of agriculture and GHG emissions.
In partnership with the Devolved Administrations, the Government invested over £12 million, over a four and a half year period, on the development of an improved GHG inventory to strengthen understanding of on farm emissions. Information from the Farm Practices Survey fed into this project which should enable greater precision in reporting GHG emissions from the sector, so that, going forward, changes made to farming practices to reduce GHG emissions will be properly recognised in the inventory.
Additional information
Finally, we are keen to hear your thoughts on this statistical release. If you found the data useful or if you have any other comments, please let us know. You can contact us via the phone number on the front page or alternatively email us at [email protected].
What you need to know about this release
Contact details
Responsible statistician: Sarah Thompson
Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Email: [email protected].
Tel: 03000 600 170
Accredited official statistics
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:
- Improvements to the commentary to aid user interpretation
- Providing a helpful summary of the ways in which the results are used by government and other users