CAP CONTEXT INDICATORS

Transcription

1 CAP CONTEXT INDICATORS FARMING INTENSITY 2017 update

2 CONTEXT INDICATOR 33: FARMING INTENSITY Intensification is an important restructuring process that has characterised European agriculture for several decades. Some intensive farming practices are often associated with the potential to put pressure on the environment, leading to soil depletion, water shortages and pollution and loss of wildlife habitats and biodiversity. On the other hand, extensive farming systems often play a key role in providing environmental public goods. The degree of intensification and extensification of EU agriculture is analysed here by means of 2 indicators, namely farm input intensity and areas of extensive grazing. 1. Farm input intensity Farm input intensity is used as a "proxy" of agricultural intensification, which is understood here as an increase in agricultural input use (fertilisers, pesticides and feedstuff) per ha of land. The indicator gives an indication of the agricultural area managed by farms with different degree of input intensity: low, medium and high intensity per ha 1. In 2013, the UAA managed by farms with low input intensity was much bigger in the EU-N13 than in the EU- 15. In 2015, the agricultural area in the European Union managed by farms with low input intensity represented 37.2% of the total Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) while the area with farms using medium and high levels of inputs was 30.8% and 32% respectively. In the EU-N13 the UAA managed with low input intensity was much more significant (48.9%) than in the EU-15, which explains important differences in the average level of input expenditures per ha: EUR 251 per ha in the EU-N13 and EUR 484 per ha in the EU-15 in constant input prices. The share of agricultural area managed with different levels of input intensity can be very different between Member States. The most significant share of UAA managed by low intensity farms (above 55% of the total UAA) was observed in Latvia (58%), Lithuania (58.6%), Bulgaria (59%), Spain (59.1%), Romania (66.6%) and Portugal (78.6%). These countries registered input expenditures between EUR 160 and 190 per ha in constant input prices, with the exception of Spain where the level of input expenditure was EUR 316 per ha in constant input prices. On the other hand, the agricultural area managed by farms with high level of inputs representing more than 70% of the total UAA can be find in Belgium (73.8%) and in the Netherlands (88.7%). In these Member States, the average level of input expenditure was very high, ranging from EUR 1300 to EUR 2400 per ha in constant input prices. Malta even reached EUR 3500 per ha in constant input prices. 1 For a detailed methodology see the document: Eurostat - Agri-environmental indicator factsheet Intensification/extensification (AEI 12),

3 MT NL BE CY DK DE LU IT FR UK AT EL SE PL FI ES IE CZ HU SI SK HR PT LV BG EE RO LT BE BG CZ DK DE EE IE EL ES FR IT CY LV LT LU HU MT NL AT PL PT RO SI SK FI SE UK Graph 1 - Share of agricultural area managed by low, medium and high intensity farms, 2015 % UAA with low input intensity per ha UAA with medium input intensity per ha UAA with high input intensity per ha Graph 2 Average input expenditure per hectare in constant input prices, 2015 Euro per ha in constant input prices

4 Table 1 Farming input intensity Indicator Subindicator C.33 Farming intensity Farm input intensity Measurement Source Year Unit Country Share of agricultural area managed by farms with low/medium/high input intensity per hectare UAA managed by farms with low input intensity per ha DG AGRI - FADN, based on Agri-environmental indicator 12: Intensification/Extensification 2015 % of total UAA UAA managed by farms with medium input intensity per ha UAA managed by farms with high input intensity per ha Inputs expenditures per hectare in constant input prices Euro per ha in constant input prices Average input expenditure per ha Belgium ,317.4 Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Germany Estonia Ireland Greece Spain France Croatia Italy Cyprus Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Hungary Malta ,574.6 Netherlands ,363.9 Austria Poland Portugal Romania Slovenia Slovakia Finland Sweden United Kingdom EU EU EU-N

5 In 2013, areas of extensive grazing represented 29% of the total UAA in the EU Areas of extensive grazing Areas of extensive grazing are classified here as areas where the stocking density of grazing livestock does not exceed 1 livestock unit per ha of forage area. In 2013, 29.4% of the UAA in the EU-28 was devoted to extensive grazing, with a total amount of 51.3 million hectares, of which around 70% was located in the old Member States. However, significant differences can be observed among the Member States. The highest share of areas of extensive grazing can be found in Portugal (57%), Latvia (55%), Sweden (53%) and Estonia (51%). At regional level, Map 1 shows a concentration of extensive grazing in the United Kingdom (Scotland, Wales and Highlands and Islands), northern Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, in the mountainous regions in Slovakia, Austria, and Italy, in the West part of Ireland and in the whole of Portugal and large parts of Spain and Romania. No extensive livestock production exists in Belgium, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, and the Netherlands. In some countries (Denmark, Ireland, the Czech Republic), areas of extensive grazing appeared for the first time in 2010, possibly due to the new inclusion of common land in the data collected for forage area. Graph 3 Areas of extensive grazing by Member State,

6 Map 1 - Share of UAA for extensive grazing,

7 Table 2 Areas of extensive grazing Indicator Subindicator C33 - Farming intensity Areas of extensive grazing Measurement Share of UAA with livestock density <1 LU/ha of forage area Source Year Unit Eurostat - Farm Structure Survey (FSS) 2013 ha and % of total UAA Country ha of extensive forage areas Belgium Bulgaria 1,368, Czech Republic 1,392, Denmark 26, Germany 2,284, Estonia 491, Ireland 2,191, Greece 1,587, Spain 7,798, France 5,864, Croatia 413, Italy 3,353, Cyprus Latvia 1,035, Lithuania 1,153, Luxembourg Hungary 1,009, Malta Netherlands Austria 981, Poland 1,690, Portugal 2,080, Romania 5,110, Slovenia 122, Slovakia 788, Finland 478, Sweden 1,623, United Kingdom 8,491, EU-28 51,336, EU-15 36,761, EU-N13 14,575, % of total UAA Context indicator Comments on methodology and data 33 Farming intensity For extensive grazing, last update done in 2015; no more recent data available. 6