About a third of Finland’s 64,000 farms and horticultural enterprises also engage in other gainful activities besides agriculture. The most popular line of business is the provision of services.

Diversification varies by region

Diversified farms are most commonly found in cities, areas close to cities and sparsely populated areas. Other gainful activities are not as common in core rural areas.

“In regional terms, diversified farms account for the highest share of all farms in the north and the south, that is, in Lapland and Uusimaa,” says Jaana Kyyrä, project manager of Agricultural Census 2010. 

Two in five farms in Lapland and Uusimaa engage in other gainful activities. Fewer farms in South Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia are diversified than farms in other regions.

Other gainful activities are typically small in scale

Most often, farms engage in other gainful activities to supplement their regular business. Other gainful activities are in many cases small in scale both in terms of working hours and net sales. On about 40 per cent of farms, other gainful activities generate less than EUR 10,000 in net sales per year. On the other hand, about one-tenth of diversified farms rack up net sales of more than EUR 100,000.

All in all, the other gainful activities of farms employ 31,000 Finns, of whom 22,000 are members of farmer families. External hired labour amounts to a total of 9,100 people.

Services have become more popular

The business structure of diversified farms has changed slightly during the past decade. The provision of services has grown in popularity, while the share of farms engaging in industry has declined. The number of farms engaging in primary production has also fallen by almost a half, reflecting the general trends in this line of business.

The most popular type of other gainful activities is the provision of services. The most common types of services include machine contracting. Many farms operate in numerous lines of business at the same time.

“For instance, contracting and tourism services is a common combination,” says project manager Jaana Kyyrä.

Further information

Tike, Statistical Services
Project chef Jaana Kyyrä
tel. +358 20 77 21 292
firstname.surname@mmmtike.fi

The data were derived from the Agricultural Census 2010 survey conducted by Tike. The results of the survey will be published in five parts. This second part comprises information on diversified farms. The next results, to be published in October, will cover farming methods. Data for the Agricultural Census were collected from all Finnish farms and horticultural enterprises in 2010 and 2011.