The June Agricultural Survey is an annual survey of agricultural activity which collects information from carefully selected agricultural holdings in England relating to land use, crops, livestock, labour, horticulture and glasshouse.

Historically named the June Agricultural and Horticultural Census this survey was, as its name implied, a Census collecting data. In recent years it has been conducted as a sample survey, in which data is only sought from a proportion of holdings in each year. The exception to this is in every tenth year when EU regulations demand a complete census; 2000 was the most recent occasion this was undertaken. The survey is conducted by a postal questionnaire (or electronically via the internet) and specimen examples of forms can be viewed here.Survey Forms

It is sent out under the authority of the Agricultural Statistics Act 1979 as amended by the Agriculture (Amendment) Act 1984; this requires the farmer to state what agricultural activity is happening on their land on a day in June each year

There are currently around 210,000 agricultural holdings in England, many of which are very small. The sample sizes used in recent years are between 45,000 and 75,000, and larger holdings are sampled at a higher rate than smaller ones.

Two sets of results are produced and published each year. Provisional estimates are published for key sections during September and final results are published for all sections in December. All estimates are produced using statistical methods which allow for non-respondent/non-sampled holdings, making use of past data, where available.

Frequently asked questions - about the data and survey

Index of Surveys

Confidentiality

Use of Cattle Tracing Data for Statistical Purposes