Northern Ireland Farm Census with Livestock, Crops, and Labor Data

An annual survey compiled by the Statistics and Analytical Services Branch of DAERA. Information includes the number of farms, area farmed, crop and grass hectares, livestock counts, and labor statistics. Data for small areas with fewer than 5 farm businesses is suppressed to prevent disclosure.

Use Cases

• Analyze farm size distribution based on the number of very small, small, medium, and large farms.
• Model livestock density and land use based on counts of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, and crop/grass areas.
• Study agricultural labor composition based on numbers of farmers, self-employed, spouses, and other workers.
• Track annual changes in farm counts and average farm economic indicators like Standard Output/Standard Gross Margin.

Strengths

• Annual survey frequency provides time-series potential.
• Includes a wide range of farm characteristics: livestock, crops, labor, and farm size categories.
• Data is published under the OGL-UK-3.0 license for open use.

Limitations

• Small area data relating to fewer than 5 farm businesses is suppressed, replaced with '3', limiting granular analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Statistics and Analytical Services Branch, DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland).

Collection Method

Compiled from the annual Agricultural and Horticultural Census survey.

Time Range

Annual coverage, specific years not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:19.979731; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Ireland, with Belfast area data suppressed.