About these statistics (metadata)
Published 12 June 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/farm-practices-survey-february-2025/about-these-statistics-metadata
1. Survey methodology
The Farm Practices Survey (FPS) – Greenhouse Gas Mitigation edition is usually run annually and collects information on a diverse range of topics usually related to the impact of farming practices on the environment.
These results are from the FPS run in February 2025. The survey largely focused on practices relating to greenhouse gas mitigation, similar in content to previous FPS surveys run in February. Topics covered in recent years include nutrient and manure management, anaerobic digestion, emissions, fertiliser, manure and slurry spreaders and storage, farm health planning, grassland and grazing and livestock breeding and feeding practices. Where comparisons with earlier years are possible, the results are displayed alongside those from previous years.
Following an internal review, we have made changes to the survey design for some questions this year. These are :
Section 3 (Emissions), the questions remain unchanged, but an additional response option was added to the question “What actions are you taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from your farm”
Section 5 (Manure and slurry storage), the questions asking about the type of manure or slurry storage facilities have been revised, removing the need to provide percentage responses. Additionally, new questions have been added to ask where the majority of either manure or slurry is stored on a holding.
Section 7 (Ruminant livestock feeding regimes and breeding practices), a new question has been included, asking whether feed products are fed to cattle to reduce methane emissions. Since the number of holdings who responded to this question was less than 10, disclosure rules prevent any release of these data.
The section on Farm Health Planning and Biosecurity was omitted from the survey this year as part of the topic rotation.
The results provided here for 2025 are based on questions sent to approximately 7,000 holdings in England. These holdings were targeted by farm type and size to ensure a representative sample. The survey was voluntary and the response rate was approximately 20%.
Thresholds were applied to ensure that very small holdings with little agricultural activity were not included in the survey. To be included in the main sample, holdings had to have at least 50 cattle, 100 sheep, 100 pigs, 1,000 poultry or 20 hectares of arable crops or orchards. Therefore, all results given in this statistical release reflect almost 55 thousand holdings that exceed these thresholds out of the total English population of around 105 thousand commercial holdings.
A breakdown of the number of holdings within the population and the sample are shown in Table 1.
1.1 Table 1: Sample design
| Farm type | Number of eligible holdings in England | Number of holdings sampled | Response rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cereals | 14,565 | 1,496 | 23 |
| Other crops | 5,209 | 939 | 18 |
| Pigs & poultry | 3,208 | 771 | 15 |
| Dairy | 4,922 | 967 | 19 |
| Grazing livestock (LFA) | 7,667 | 785 | 22 |
| Grazing livestock (lowland) | 14,465 | 1,399 | 18 |
| Mixed | 4,808 | 589 | 21 |
| All farms | 54,844 | 6,946 | 20 |
2. Data analysis
Results have been analysed using a standard methodology for stratified random surveys to produce national estimates. With this method, all the data are weighted according to the inverse sampling fraction.
3. Accuracy and reliability of the results
We show 95% confidence intervals against the results. These show the range of values that may apply to the figures. They mean that we are 95% confident that this range contains the true value. They are calculated as the standard errors (se) multiplied by 1.96 to give the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The standard errors only give an indication of the sampling error. They do not reflect any other sources of survey errors, such as non-response bias.
4. Definitions
Where reference is made to the type of farm in this document, this refers to the ‘robust type’, which is a standardised farm classification system. Farm sizes are based on the estimated labour requirements for the holding, rather than its land area. The farm size bands used within the detailed results tables which accompany this publication are shown in the table below. Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) is defined as the theoretical number of workers required each year to run a holding, based on its cropping and livestock activities.
| Farm size | Definition |
|---|---|
| Small | Less than 2 SLR |
| Medium | 2 to less than 3 SLR |
| Large | 3 or more SLR |
5. Availability of results
This release contains headline results for each topic. The full breakdown of results, by region, farm type and farm size can be found at the Farm Practices Survey.
Other Defra statistical notices can be viewed on the Defra website.
6. Data uses
The Farm Practices survey plays a key role in assessing the environmental impact of farming, providing timely agri-environment data to support policy decisions. The survey has a wide customer base both internal and external to Defra including Natural England, English Heritage, ADAS, the Environment Agency and the NFU.
Data from the Farm Practices Survey helps track progress toward agricultural targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The survey also informs the development of policies supporting the Agri Net Zero Pathway.
Data from the Farm Practices Survey has also been used to create the greenhouse gas (GHG) indicator framework. The framework, initially developed as part of the 2012 review of progress in reducing GHG emissions from English agriculture.
7. Consultation
The Farm Practices survey is not expected to run in 2026 whilst a review of the survey purpose and content is undertaken.
The survey consultation opened on 5th February 2025 inviting users to share their views on the current use of survey data and the proposed changes being considered by Defra.
The consultation is open to all interested data users and will remain available until 1st September 2025.
8. Additional information
Finally, we are keen to hear your thoughts on this statistical release. If you found the data useful or if you have any other comments, please let us know. You can contact us via the phone number on the front page or alternatively email us at farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk.
9. What you need to know about this release
9.1 Contact details
Responsible statistician: Sarah Thompson
Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Email: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk.
Tel: 03000 600 170
9.2 Accredited official statistics
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:
- Improvements to the commentary to aid user interpretation
- Providing a helpful summary of the ways in which the results are used by government and other users