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Publication - Statistics

Results from the Scottish Agricultural Census: June 2023

Published
31 October 2023
From
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
Directorate
Environment and Forestry Directorate, +1 more … Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Topic
Farming and rural

Final results from the 2023 June Agricultural Census on land use, crop areas, livestock and the number of people working on agricultural holdings. Estimates for 2022 are published in the supporting documents.

Supporting documents

Most holdings have a single person or related individuals legally responsible for them 

Nearly all holdings (96 per cent) had either one person or two related people with legal responsibility for the holding. These holdings account for 71 per cent of agricultural land. Land that an organisation has legal responsibility for made up three per cent of holdings, covering 26 per cent of the total agricultural land area.

Not all responses to the census provide legal responsibility information, information on this section comes from 19,870 holdings.

Figure 18: Percentage of holdings and area split by who has legal responsibility for a holding

Bar chart of legal responsibility. In 2023, 49 per cent of holdings had one person and 46 per cent had two or more related individuals with legal responsibility. One per cent had two or more not related and three per cent had an organisation with legal responsibility. Holdings with a legal responsibility of one person account for 28 per cent of land area, while 43 percent of agricultural land has two or more related individuals with legal responsibility. Two per cent of land area has two or more not related and 26 per cent of land area has an organisation with legal responsibility.

Contact

Email: agric.stats@gov.scot

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