Results from the Scottish Agricultural Census: June 2023

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.

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Glossary

Agricultural holdings refer to land and buildings used for horticulture, livestock, grazing, and various other uses. 

Area in sole occupation  refers to the area of land for where there are sole occupiers of the land they farm, whether as owner-occupiers or tenants.

Continuous cropping is a system where the same crop is grown in the same field over multiple growing seasons. This can result in increased weeds, plant diseases and worsening of soil physical properties.

Crop rotation is the method of growing different types of crops in the same area, over a sequence of growing seasons, reducing a build up of soil borne pests and diseases and the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients.

Gilt refers to a female pig that has not yet had a litter of piglets.

Hectares (ha) is the land measurement used in agriculture. One hectare, or 10,000 square metres, is roughly the full size of a rugby pitch. 

Human Consumption refers to vegetable crops for consumption by humans.

Legal responsibility is the person(s) or institution with the power of the decision-making, regarding the normal daily financial and production routines of the business. 

Liveweight pigs refers to the length and girth of a pig is used to calculate the liveweight of a pig.

Mineral fertilisers are manufactured inorganic substances consisting of essential micronutrients. Mineral fertilisers are applied to the soil to enhance the micronutrient content in soil.

Organic fertilisers are from plant or animal origin consisting of essential micronutrients. Organic fertilisers are applied to the soil to enhance the micronutrient content in soil.

Person working days is the number of workers multiplied by number of days they have worked. This provides an estimate of the number of working days workers have contributed to agricultural tasks.  

Seed potatoes are specifically grown for planting for potato cultivation.

Sow refers to an adult female pig that has had one or more litters of piglets.

Stockfeed  refers to food or fodder for livestock.

Ware potatoes are grown primarily for human consumption.

Contact

Email: agric.stats@gov.scot

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