Organisation of the Polish FSDN

Main objective of the Polish FSDN

  • To provide data from a representative sample of farms to the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN).
  • To determine the annual income generated on farms.
  • To analyse various farm groups and to assess the situation in agriculture and agricultural markets.

 

Interim goals of the Polish FSDN

The data collected within the framework of the Polish FSDN are also used to achieve interim objectives, which include the following:

  • Provision of data to decision-making centres in the Republic of Poland.
    Farm data are necessary for representatives of Member States to conduct negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy and national agricultural support programmes.
  • Provision of data for farmers’ representative organisations.
    Farm data are necessary for farmers’ representatives to negotiate with the authorities of the Republic of Poland the conditions for the operation of agricultural holdings and to initiate national agricultural support programmes.
  • Provision of data for the scientific and research community.
    Farm data provide an empirical basis for analysis and hypothesis verification.
  • Provision data for agricultural advisors.
    The data are grouped according to various criteria, which is very useful, for example, when planning business ventures.
  • Provision of data for farmers participating in the Polish FSDN.
    Each farmer participating in the Polish FSDN receives an Individual Farm Report. The farmer can also receive: Farm Comparative Report and Dynamic Farm Report.

 

Organisation of the Polish FSDN

The Act on the EU Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN) defines the tasks and responsibilities of the authorities and organisational units of the System, which include: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Liaison Agency, National Committee, Agricultural Advisory Centers.

The task of the Liaison Agency, which in Poland is The Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics – National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI) in Warsaw, is contracting with Agricultural Advisory Centres  data collection from a representative sample of the agricultural holdings.

The cooperation of the participants in the system, starting with the Liaison Agency, through the Agricultural Advisory Centers , FSDN advisors and farmers, is based on contracts concluded annually.

The contracts specify the scope of the farm data and the deadlines for their provision, the conditions for the protection of the farm data and the farmer’s personal data.

 

 

Agricultural holdings participating in the FSDN system

Farms operating in Poland were classified according to the EU Typology (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1198/2014 of 1 August 2014 supplementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union). The classification of agricultural holdings operating in Poland was made on the basis of:

  • a regional set of Standard Output (SO) coefficients,
  • four FSDN regions,
  • 2016 Farm Structure Survey data.

1,301,481 agricultural holdings were classified according to the guidelines of the European Commission’s Farm Classification Regulation. This population of agricultural holdings generated an SO value of approximately 112 billion PLN according to the SO ‘2017 coefficients.

On the basis of the structure of SO value in Poland, the minimum economic size of an agricultural holding in the field of observation of the Polish FSDN was determined. The threshold for minimum economic size was set at 8 000 EUR.

The field of observation of the Polish FSDN includes 465 661 agricultural holdings, which currently produce 91% of the SO value of all classified agricultural holdings in Poland. Appropriate statistical tools were used to determine a representative sample of agricultural holdings for the Polish FSDN field of observation. The determined sample size of the Polish FSDN, accepted by the National Committee and the European Commission, is 9 000 holdings, which means that one holding participating in the Polish FSDN represents, on average, 52 holdings in the Polish FSDN field of observation.

 

 

Polish FSDN documents

Meeting FSDN tasks and objectives requires the acquisition of a precisely defined set of data from the agricultural holding.
Two sets of documents have been prepared for the collection of data for the Polish FSDN:

 

I. For agricultural holdings which do not keep accounts in accordance with the Accounting Act (individual holdings):

Manuals:

  • Bookkeeping Manual,
  • Coding Manual and Lists of Codes.

Agricultural Accounting Books:

  • List of Assets and Liabilities (opening inventory),
  • List of Selected Assets and Liabilities (closing inventory),
  • Book of Receipts and Expenditure,
  • Book of Events in Agricultural Holding.

 

II. For legal entities, which are legally obliged to keep financial accounts in accordance with the Accounting Act, a special survey questionnaire is used instead of account books to collect data:

  • The Farm Income Survey completed by an entity authorised to collect the data on the basis of annual accounts and an interview with the farm manager.

 

 

RDR system of the Polish FSDN

The RDR (Accounting Data Recording System) system is used to collect data in a digital form. Its main tasks include:

  • collection of data from the Agricultural Production Size Survey,
  • collection of data from the Agricultural Accounting Books – from the 2014 accounting year onwards,
  • collection of data from the Farm Income Survey,
  • administration of Farm Identification Numbers, Accounting Office Staff Numbers and Accounting Office Numbers.

 

RDR System functions are:

  • collection of data on a single platform, making work much easier,
  • automatic data storage,
  • generating reports,
  • quality control of data,
  • creation of a digital database with a uniform structure,
  • creation of summaries/reports on the basis of ‘error-free’ data for users (in ‘view’ or ‘download’ mode),
  • rapid flow of information between the various roles: Employee, Coordinator, Methodologist, Administrator,
  • administration of data (transfer between systems),
  • global access to the database by being able to run the RDR System from any computer connected to the Internet.

The RDR system supports the data collection process, but the quality of the data depends on the cooperation of the advisor and the farmer.

 

 

Annual products of the Polish FSDN

Polish FSDN provides a number of products. The following should be distinguished:

 

I. Core products of the Polish FSDN:

  • Computer database

The database collects data from around 9 000 holdings each year. Each farm in the database is characterised by a set of up to 2 200 variables.

  • FSDN Farm Return

The structure and content fully compliant with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2024/2746 of 25 October 2024 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 establishing  the Farm Sustainability Data Network.

 

II. Products to support data quality control and on-farm management

  • Individual Farm Report

The product is produced in the RDR System for each farmer participating in the Polish FSDN, on the basis of data that do not show errors in the procedure of data quality control.

  • Farm Comparative Report

It is generated from 2020 in the RDR System and can be generated by all users of this system. The report can only be generated once all accounts have been closed and positively verified, which is usually at the end of the year following the year to which the data from the records relate.

 

  • Dynamic Farm Report

The Dynamic Farm Report is produced in the RDR and can be generated by all users of this system. This report allows farmers to track and quickly assess the changes that have occurred in the farm’s situation over the 5 consecutive years. The report is also designed to assist the advisor/farmer in data quality control.

 

 

Selected products from the Polish FSDN database:

  • Polish FSDN Standard Results

The developed results are fully consistent with the economic terms and categories presented in the FSDN Standard Results by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG-AGRI). The Standard Results include about 140 variables characterising the economic and financial situation of the agricultural holdings during the accounting year.

  • Technical and economic parameters by groups of farms participating in the Polish FSDN

The technical and economic parameters of agricultural holdings include data on the structure of harvests, the level of yields, the prices obtained for the sale of agricultural products, as well as indicators and measures determining the financial condition of the surveyed agricultural holdings and the equipment of the production factors. The results can be used for analysing individual groups of farms, for planning and assessing the legitimacy of changing the profile or expanding the farm.

  • The Time Series

The Standard Results prepared in the Polish FADN/FSDN system are also available as time series. They can be downloaded using the time series creator according to different groupings, such as economic size classes (ES, ES6, ES9), type of farming (TF8, TF14), Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA6), FADN/FSDN regions (FADN_REG), among others.

Files are only available in Polish. However, the variables are fully consistent with those in the EU.