Farm Business Survey 2021-22: Farm level emissions and nitrogen usage

Data sources and more information

Data Source

The Scottish Farm Business Survey is an annual survey of around 400 commercial-sized farms. Farms which are part-time, or with economic activity below approximately £20,000 are not included. Farms that do not receive support, such as pigs, poultry and horticulture, are not included in the survey.

Data from the June Agricultural Census are used to weight the farm business income estimates. The FBS is representative of around 11,000 farms in Scotland, which is around 21% of all farms included in the June Agricultural Census. These farms cover 64% of Scotland's agricultural land, employ 46% of those employed in Scottish farming, and produce 95% of standard output from the farming sectors that are included in the FBS.

On-farm emissions are estimated using a life cycle assessment (LCA) based carbon calculator (Agrecalc). They do not account for any sequestration by woodland areas or soil. Nitrogen estimates are based on standard estimates of nitrogen content in all farm inputs and outputs where possible. Nitrogen estimates are not made for organic farms, which means a small proportion of the sample are excluded.

Experimental statistics

These data are designated as experimental statistics as they are still in development, with a potentially wider degree of uncertainty in the resulting estimates as the methods and processes are established and verified.

We wish to involve users in our assessment of suitability and quality. If you use this data we would like to hear from you, please get in touch with us at agric.stats@gov.scot.

More information on the development of these statistics and what we are interested in exploring with users is included in our Methodology.

Methodology

More detailed methodology information is available in the Methodology.

Related Statistics

Scottish farm business income (FBI)
Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics
Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet

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Correspondence and enquiries

Jay Gillam
Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Statistics
e-mail: agric.stats@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
Telephone: 0131 244 0442

e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this publication are available through supporting documents.

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Chief Statistician
St Andrews House
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
Telephone: (0131) 244 0302
e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

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You may use or re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License. See: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/