Tike examines the trend in the number of farms, their arable area, production sectors and farmers in its annual Farm Structure statistics. The data for the statistics is sourced from the Farm Register. In 2009, farms with more than 100 hectares already accounted for a quarter of Finland’s arable area. Young farmers operated the largest farms.

In 2009, the rate of decline in the number of farms was in line with the average for recent years, but slightly steeper than in 2008. There were 64,175 farms in Finland in 2009, or about 1,600 less than in the previous year. Since the turn of the millennium, the number of farms has fallen by around 20 per cent. The greatest decline was seen in Northern Karelia and Satakunta, and the smallest in Central Finland. About 550 new farms were established in 2009, slightly more than in 2008. Of these farms, close to a third had not applied for agricultural subsidies.

Almost 40 per cent of the farms that discontinued production had not applied for agricultural subsidies in the spring 2009 application period. Farms engaging in goat and sheep husbandry and other forms of production had the highest rates of discontinuing agricultural production. About 7 per cent of former pig farms changed over to cereals production. Such great changes in direction were rarer in other production sectors. On average, slightly less than 4 per cent of farms took up another line of production.

Average arable area increases by almost a hectare
In recent years, the average arable area has seen annual growth of about half a hectare. Between 2008 and 2009, the average arable area grew by slightly under a hectare. In 2009, the average arable area amounted to 36 hectares. The share of all farms accounted for by those with more than 100 hectares of arable land rose to 6 per cent. They held close to a quarter of the total arable land. The share of small farms with less than 10 hectares of arable land has remained relatively steady during the past five years. 60 per cent of farms had rented arable land. The average area of rented arable land was 20 hectares. Relatively young farmers – aged 30 to 45 – had the most rented arable land.

More moderate decline in the number of livestock farms
The relative shares of production sectors remained in line with the previous year. 43 per cent of Finnish farms grew cereals as their principal line of production while 19 per cent specialised in dairy farming. In recent years, the number of livestock farms had seen a significantly steeper decline than crop farms, but this difference levelled out in 2009. The number of livestock farms is still falling, but the difference with other production sectors is no longer as significant. With the exception of dairy and poultry farms, the relative share of all production sectors accounted for by livestock farms even increased slightly.

Growth in the number of farms run as limited companies
The number of farms owned by private individuals and farming enterprises declined while the number of farms operated as limited companies grew. The number of farmers decreased by 1,400 since 2008, a greater decline than in the previous year. The average age of farmers was down by about half a year and was 50.2 years in 2009. The oldest farmers were to be found in Uusimaa and the Åland Islands, while the youngest were in Northern Ostrobothnia. In terms of average arable area, farmers aged around 30 operated the largest farms. The average arable area of farmers aged 30-34 was 46.3 hectares.


For more information, contact:
Actuary Irene Mustalahti, tel. +358 20 77 21340
Researcher Mika Kuoppa-aho, tel. +358 20 77 21366
E-mail addresses are in format forename.surename@mmmtike.fi