Standard output
The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) aims at evaluating the income of agricultural holdings and the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The services responsible in the Union for the operation of the FADN collect every year accountancy data from a sample of the agricultural holdings in the European Union. The Commission does not directly collect data itself, but Eurostat collects the Standard Output Coefficients (SOC) defined under the legal acts of FADN. The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015220 lays down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 12172009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union and it is supplemented by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 11982014 of 1 August 2014 (namely the thresholds, reference period, types of farming and collection of accountancy data).
Standard output coefficients
The standard output coefficient of an agricultural product (crop or livestock), abbreviated as SOC, is the average monetary value of the agricultural output at farm-gate price, in euro per hectare or per head of livestock. There is a regional SO Coefficient (SOC) for each product, which is calculated as an average value over a reference period (5 years, except for the SOC 2004 which was calculated using the average of 3 years). The sum of all the standard output coefficients multiplied by (respectively) hectare of crop and head of livestock in a farm is a measure of its overall economic size, expressed in euro. Standard output coefficients are made publicly available online. Correct location and insert link to handbook For the 2020 campaign Standard Output Coefficients calculated on an average of 5 years (2015 to 2019) will be used. These are subject to a separate data collection (SOC2017). The SO for 2023 will be calculated with SOC2020. F
Figure 67 – Standard Output Coefficient timetable
According to the FADN legislation, once every 10 years, when the farm structure survey is carried out in the form of a census, the basic data for determining the SO coefficients shall be renewed on the basis of the direct observation method (meaning that more detailed data is collected). This is relevant for SOC2017 which will be applied to the IFS2020 data. In 2023 the update method can be used for the transmission of SOC.
Standard output
Eurostat calculates the values of Standard Output using the farm structure data. Standard output is in turn used to determine the "farm type" and "economic size".
Farm type
Scientific use files
According to Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 regarding access to confidential data for scientific purposes, scientific use files are files to be used for scientific purposes, to which methods of statistical disclosure control have been applied, in order to reduce the risk of identification of statistical unit to an appropriate level, in accordance with the current best practices. According to this definition, the risk of identification of a single unit is reduced, but not completely eliminated. Farm Structure Survey data is specific because the identification of the holdings on the basis of its production is relatively easy. The type of production is usually visible (crops growing, elevation of cows etc.). The focus of anonymisation is on limiting the additional information that the researchers will get on holdings in scientific use files. On the other hand agricultural production change over time (especially crops production) and the identification of holdings after 2, 3 or 5 years can be difficult or even misleading. The users of the scientific use files are researchers. They do not use the data to get information about individual holdings but to draw general conclusions. The researchers go through the eligibility procedure to get access to the data. Their organisations have to be recognized as research entities and their projects validated by Eurostat and national statistical institutes. The researchers sign several commitments where it is stated that "they will not attempt to identify any individual record (individual, household, business etc.) in the dataset, or claim to have done so". They also commit to "preserve the confidentiality of information pertaining to identifiable individuals, households and/or organisations that are recorded in the dataset". Additional safeguards are signed at the level of research entities. The approach for treatment was agreed in the FSS WG 2018.