Abstract

In line with EU trends, the number of farms in Hungary has been steadily declining over the past decades. More and more small farms are disappearing, especially those run by older farm managers with low digital literacy. Farm handovers are difficult, whether within or outside the family. Structural surveys, conducted in accordance with current EU regulations, provide a detailed picture of the structure of farms and how they are changing. The integration of data available from administrative sources and the linking of individual data are playing an increasingly important role in these surveys, with the ongoing goal of reducing the amount of data collected directly from respondents, which contributes to reducing the burden on data providers and optimizing costs and resources. In Hungary, at the time of the 2020 Agricultural Census (IFS2020), only about one in ten of the mandatory EU variables came from administrative sources, while in 2023 (IFS2023) it was one in eight, but with continuous improvements and modernization, the proportion will reach 50% during the 2026 Integrated farm statistics data collection (IFS2026). Since the data quality of other sources is not entirely satisfactory, although the burden on data providers is reduced, the reduction in resource expenditure by statisticians is less apparent.
The questionnaires need to be supplemented with questions that cannot be obtained from other sources but are essential for policy makers. The professional cooperation between the HCSO and the Ministry of Agriculture has a long history. The Ministry of Agriculture plays a coordinating role with actors such as the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, professional organizations, farm associations, research institutes, and public institutions. The Ministry's demand for statistical data is growing and timeliness is playing an increasingly important role. Data are essential not only for planning, but also for evaluating individual policies. That is why agricultural digitization, precision farming, and generational change were important issues in the IFS2020 and IFS2023 surveys. Linking this data with other structural data (age, education, main activity, geographical location, Standard Output) is essential for data-driven decision-making.
Based on the IFS2020 data, Hungary, for example, enacted a law on farm handovers, which aims to simplify and facilitate the handover of farms. It is also essential for competitive agriculture to understand the vision of farm managers for the future. A good example of the use of data is that, based on the results of IFS2020, several calls for proposals were published on supporting precision developments, encouraging the digital transition of agriculture, and creating a Digital Agricultural Strategy. Data analysis reveals which farms have been able to survive national and international challenges and crises, and which ones need to be supported in order to guarantee national supply security.
The presentation outlines the legal framework for ensuring data transfer between institutions and highlights the most important results.
The new administrative databases that have been integrated into the agricultural data production process in recent years will also be presented, with a focus on the various challenges handled.
The farm-level linking of data from administrative databases and the results of the surveys, as well as the time series analysis of the data, enabled us to map the limitations of using administrative data and find solutions to the challenges.
It will be presented what data and information the Hungarian Central Statistical Office can use to support the planning phase of the rural development program and the evaluation processes.
Our research findings also highlight how the use of different forms of agricultural support affected the survival of farms between 2020 and 2023, and how the age and IT skills of farmers influence their use of different forms of support.
Regional differences in farm closures, as well as differences based on the age and highest agricultural education level of farmers, are also presented.
IFS2020 also examined the vision outlined by farm managers and the survival of farms between 2020 and 2023. In addition to presenting these results, the characteristics of those farms that still had long-term plans in 2020 but had ceased to exist by 2023 are also shown.