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Intensity of agriculture in Slovenia is moderate, directed mostly at improving labour intensity in agricultural production, i.e. reducing the input of labour per unit of area or product. The number of livestock units (LU) per hectare of utilised agricultural area, as the aggregate indicator of production intensity, is stable; in the 2000–2020 period, the stocking density, like in other EU countries, has slightly decreased. Due to economic pressures (market-price relationships) the agricultural holdings are forced to reduce production costs and increase productivity and farming intensity. The intensity of agricultural production in Slovenia in the period of 2000–2020 moderately increased. The increase is the result of the continued reduction in the number of agricultural holdings and the concentration of agricultural production.

Definition

The intensity of agriculture is an indicator that reflects the level of increase in productivity of agricultural production, which is expressed per unit of agricultural area or per head of animal. It consists of four indicators for the selected key production orientations in Slovenia. For livestock production, it is calculated as the number of head of livestock units (LU) per hectare of utilized agricultural area (UAA) and the average milk production per dairy cow. For crop production, it is calculated as the average yield of wheat and spelt per hectare of UAA and the average yield of maize per hectare of UAA.

Charts

Figure KM04-1: Intensity of stocking and production: the average yield of wheat and maize per hectare, milk yield and number of livestock units per hectare of utilised agricultural area in the period 2000–2019

Sources:

SORS, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	Wheat and spelt [t/ha]	Maize [t/ha]	Stocking rate [LU/ha UAA]	Milk yield [t/cow]
2000	4.25	5.88	0.97	4.63
2001	4.60	5.41	np	4.81
2002	4.89	8.16	np	5.20
2003	3.45	5.08	0.94	5.06
2004	4.53	7.78	np	4.85
2005	4.70	8.29	0.87	5.48
2006	4.19	6.93	np	5.71
2007	4.16	7.54	0.89	5.73
2008	4.53	7.32	np	5.76
2009	3.96	7.84	np	5.53
2010	4.80	8.54	0.89	5.52
2011	5.18	8.69	np	5.52
2012	5.44	7.08	np	5.59
2013	4.35	5.41	0.84	5.43
2014	5.23	9.15	np	5.72
2015	5.11	8.97	np	5.60
2016	5.19	9.51	0.87	6.02
2017	5.03	7.11	np	5.95
2018	4.38	9.45	np	6.12
2019	5.23	9.27	np	6.18
2020	5.80	10.79	0.86	np

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-2: Agricultural holdings in Slovenia by number of livestock in 2000, 2010, 2016 and 2020

Sources:

SORS, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	2000 [number]	2010 [number]	2016 [number]	2020 [number]	Number of holdings - 2000 [number]	Number of holdings - 2010 [number]	Number of holdings - 2016 [number]	Number of holdings - 2016 [number]	Livestock breeding - 2000 [number]	Livestock breeding - 2010 [number]	Livestock breeding - 2016 [number]	Livestock breeding - 2016 [number]
Cattle	8.91	13.08	14.82	16.72	56097	36119	32805	28485	499546	472333	486014	476382
Pigs	13.49	14.45	12.07	19.30	44623	26441	22649	12198	601953	382031	273359	235473
Sheep	22.18	22.28	21.94	22.80	4330	6181	6150	5016	96027	137737	134929	114365
Goats	6.15	8.27	8.39	8.12	4775	4214	4598	3374	29385	34864	38564	27385
LU	6.07	7.19	7.51	9.09	77452	58648	55782	44974	470498	421553	418684	408683

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-3: Agricultural holdings in Slovenia by average production area of wheat and maize in the period 2000–2020

Sources:

SORS, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	Wheat and spelt [ha per holding]	Maize [ha per holding]	Wheat and spelt [number of holdings]	Wheat and spelt [ha]	Maize [number of holdings]	Maize [ha]
2000	1.24	1.07	30905	38257	44826	48009
2003	1.40	1.22	25457	35585	36141	44137
2005	1.36	1.24	22100	30059	34212	42369
2007	1.52	1.42	21014	32040	28844	40905
2010	1.71	1.47	18690	31946	24795	36433
2013	1.77	1.72	18635	32959	24670	42375
2016	2.05	1.74	16086	33016	21242	36985
2020	2.35	2.13	11589	27286	18706	39828

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-4: Number of livestock units (LU) per hectare of utilised agricultural area (UAA) in Slovenia and selected EU countries in 2000, 2010, 2016

Sources:

Eurostat, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	LU per ha UAA - 2000 [LU/ha UAA]	LU per ha UAA - 2010 [LU/ha UAA]	LU per ha UAA - 2016 [LU/ha UAA]	LU - 2000 [number]	LU - 2010 [number]	LU - 2016 [number]	UAA - 2000 [ha]	UAA - 2010 [ha]	UAA - 2016 [ha]
Belgium	3.13	2.80	2.79	4359330	3798680	3772750	1393780	1358020	1354250
Slovenia	0.97	1.07	1.05	611100	518480	512120	485879	482650	488400
Austria	0.79	0.87	0.89	2673930	2517170	2432030	3388230	2878170	2726890
Greece	0.71	0.46	0.43	2540110	2406520	2102870	3583190	5177510	4856780

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-5: Average milk yield of cows in Slovenia and selected EU countries in the period 2000–2019

Sources:

Eurostat, 2021

Show data


	Dairy cows - Slovenia [number]	Milk production - Slovenia [t]	Slovenia [kg/cow]	Dairy cows - Austria [number]	Milk production - Austria [t]	Austria [kg/cow]	Dairy cows - Belgium [number]	Milk production - Belgium [t]	Belgium [kg/cow]	Dairy cows - Greece [number]	Milk production - Greece [t]	Greece [kg/cow]
2000	140240	649000	4627.78	621000	3233100	5206.28	629400	3425000	5441.69	180000	789300	4385
2001	135810	653000	4808.19	597980	3299600	5517.91	611320	3357000	5491.40	172000	778100	4523.84
2002	139980	686000	4900.70	588970	3292200	5589.76	591010	3160000	5346.78	152000	758200	4988.16
2003	130710	664400	5083.01	557880	3229900	5789.60	572140	3127000	5465.45	149000	767800	5153.02
2004	134010	650400	4853.37	537950	3137300	5831.95	570610	3120000	5467.83	150000	762200	5081.33
2005	120270	659030	5479.59	534420	3113700	5826.32	548150	3082000	5622.55	152260	761300	5000
2006	112510	642260	5708.47	527420	3146700	5966.21	531910	2917000	5484.01	167750	763800	4553.20
2007	117170	666470	5688.06	524500	3155100	6015.44	524290	2943000	5613.31	150000	774000	5160
2008	113450	653680	5761.83	530230	3195900	6027.38	517770	2892000	5585.49	154000	787200	5111.69
2009	113100	625520	5530.68	532980	3229800	6059.89	517680	2996000	5787.36	145000	752800	5191.72
2010	109470	603930	5516.85	532740	3257700	6114.99	517740	3111000	6008.81	144000	743660	5164.31
2011	109070	601590	5515.63	527390	3307130	6270.75	510650	3151000	6170.57	130000	757000	5823.08
2012	111020	620940	5593.05	523370	3382100	6462.16	503540	3116000	6188.19	132000	765500	5799.24
2013	109570	595500	5434.88	529560	3393060	6407.32	515990	3529000	6839.28	130000	730600	5620
2014	107840	616580	5717.54	537740	3493860	6497.30	519090	3710000	7147.12	135000	769000	5696.30
2015	112840	631670	5597.93	534100	3537760	6623.78	528780	3826000	7235.52	111000	770000	6936.94
2016	107840	649680	6024.48	539870	3627610	6719.41	530590	3969000	7480.35	106000	706000	6660.38
2017	108830	647990	5954.15	543420	3712730	6832.16	519160	4110000	7916.63	97000	670000	6907.22
2018	102710	628930	6123.36	532870	3821190	7170.96	529250	4244000	8018.89	95000	654800	6892.63
2019	100840	623020	6178.30	524070	3781340	7215.33	537960	4351000	8087.96	86000	659380	7667.21

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-6: Average production of wheat in Slovenia, and selected EU countries in the period 2000–2020

Sources:

Eurostat, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	Wheat and spelt area - Slovenia [ha]	Wheat harvest - Slovenia [t]	Slovenia [t/ha]	Wheat area - Austria[ha]	Wheat harvest - Austria[t]	Austria [t/ha]	Wheat area - Belgium [ha]	Wheat harvest - Belgium [t]	Belgium [t/ha]	Wheat area - Greece [ha]	Wheat harvest - Greece [t]	Greece [t/ha]
2000	38260	162560	4.25	293800	1313000	4.47	213000	1687600	7.92	829290	1858860	2.24
2001	39340	181080	4.60	287700	1508300	5.24	181000	1457400	8.05	931080	1827500	1.96
2002	35730	174870	4.89	288800	1434300	4.97	203000	1675100	8.25	890310	1782410	2.00
2003	35590	122920	3.45	272000	1191400	4.38	199000	1692900	8.51	851090	1629770	1.91
2004	32390	146830	4.53	290200	1718800	5.92	212000	1913100	9.02	838860	1773860	2.11
2005	30060	141290	4.70	289000	1453100	5.03	214000	1799400	8.41	868740	1761060	2.03
2006	32080	134450	4.19	284600	1396300	4.91	210000	1719500	8.19	685170	1574900	2.30
2007	32040	133340	4.16	293000	1399300	4.78	210000	1645300	7.83	678050	1389680	2.05
2008	35410	160300	4.53	296800	1689700	5.69	224000	1944300	8.68	657370	1939360	2.95
2009	34530	136900	3.96	309100	1523400	4.93	211500	1978100	9.35	781990	2140480	2.74
2010	31950	153480	4.80	302850	1517810	5.01	213000	1912800	8.98	661050	2025270	3.06
2011	29670	153580	5.18	304330	1781840	5.85	200710	1687730	8.41	543700	1850060	3.40
2012	34590	188070	5.44	308180	1275500	4.14	217100	1834600	8.45	563200	1567570	2.78
2013	31760	138240	4.35	297290	1597710	5.37	201860	1843600	9.13	579270	1643430	2.84
2014	33120	173240	5.23	304650	1804020	5.92	210760	1918980	9.11	545380	1663780	3.05
2015	30730	157060	5.11	302970	1725740	5.70	221780	2076260	9.36	488200	1139750	2.33
2016	31460	163170	5.19	317760	1977040	6.22	215720	1446580	6.71	537590	1594880	2.97
2017	28020	140960	5.03	297280	1442770	4.85	197590	1702720	8.62	415950	1023900	2.46
2018	27820	121900	4.38	294290	1375060	4.67	195690	1652250	8.44	404490	1072940	2.65
2019	26730	139810	5.23	278340	1606220	5.77	203760	1895770	9.30	350490	979220	2.79
2020	27270	158050	5.80	279020	1662400	5.96	195400	1719200	8.80	331730	842400	2.54

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-7: Average production of grain maize in Slovenia, and selected EU countries in the period 2000–2020

Sources:

Eurostat, 2021; calculations by AIS

Show data


	Maize area - Slovenia [ha]	Maize harvest - Slovenia [t]	Slovenia [t/ha]	Maize area - Austria [ha]	Maize harvest - Austria [t]	Austria [t/ha]	Maize area - Belgium [ha]	Maize harvest - Belgium [t]	Belgium [t/ha]	Maize area - Greece [ha]	Maize harvest - Greece [t]	Greece [t/ha]
2000	48010	282390	5.88	164100	1617500	9.86	35783	397400	11.11	208250	1850370	8.89
2001	47570	257550	5.41	171400	1493000	8.71	40555	460900	11.36	210390	1900260	9.03
2002	45530	371370	8.16	172200	1666600	9.68	47392	530700	11.20	225470	2004510	8.89
2003	44140	224220	5.08	173300	1452100	8.38	52723	554700	10.52	249020	2205520	8.86
2004	46000	357620	7.77	178700	1653700	9.25	52200	637800	12.22	251410	2210400	8.79
2005	42370	351170	8.29	167200	1724800	10.32	54300	634100	11.68	241420	2168930	8.98
2006	39840	276110	6.93	159300	1471700	9.24	56500	575900	10.19	179130	1646630	9.19
2007	40910	308260	7.54	170900	1696500	9.93	58200	698900	12.01	190340	1927540	10.13
2008	43700	319900	7.32	194100	2147200	11.06	72015	858800	11.93	240100	2472140	10.30
2009	38610	302600	7.84	178500	1890500	10.59	66700	808100	12.12	235260	2432870	10.34
2010	36430	311120	8.54	201140	1955990	9.72	69800	745900	10.69	181050	1912150	10.56
2011	40190	349030	8.68	217100	2453130	11.30	72030	859690	11.94	181880	2195790	12.07
2012	39170	277360	7.08	219700	2351370	10.70	67200	733600	10.92	183950	2009790	10.93
2013	41860	226630	5.41	201920	1639020	8.12	74170	837600	11.29	183010	2145250	11.72
2014	38330	350730	9.15	216320	2334390	10.79	62830	778570	12.39	159780	1824140	11.42
2015	37740	338710	8.97	188730	1637910	8.68	58400	692960	11.87	152050	1542300	10.14
2016	36390	346210	9.51	195250	2179590	11.16	52100	480730	9.23	139480	1448650	10.39
2017	38290	272180	7.11	209480	2075980	9.91	49000	608670	12.42	132490	1306510	9.86
2018	37080	350490	9.45	209900	2130340	10.15	53990	443000	8.21	113450	1205980	10.63
2019	38880	360360	9.27	220690	2298880	10.42	48640	529600	10.89	115500	1233620	10.68
2020	39850	430020	10.79	212600	2411930	11.34	52100	546600	10.49	114370	1131160	9.89

Export Table Data

Figure KM04-8: Number of LU per hectare of UAA by municipalities

Chart note:

Data from agricultural holdings survey 2010; date of data collection: 26. 10. 2016

Goals

World agriculture, and also European and Slovenian agriculture, is once again facing the challenge of ensuring global food security. According to United Nations forecasts, the population will increase to 9 billion by 2050. In order to feed such a large number of people, it would be necessary to double the current volume of agricultural production. Due to limited natural resources, such an increase in production will increase the pressure on arable land and the availability of water, but we can also expect greater negative effects on the environment due to the higher intensity of production. Agricultural intensity is a process that can be one of the biggest pressures in uncontrolled conditions on nature and the environment, so there are several conflicting objectives in this regard:

restructuring in agriculture, increasing productivity and increasing the competitiveness of agriculture (rural development program 2014–2020),
eradicating hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture (Agenda 2030),
protection, conservation and improvement of the European Union's natural capital (7^th EAP),
the protection of European Union citizens against environmental pressures and risks to health and well-being (7^th Environmental Action Program).

Comment

According to provisional data from the latest Census of Agricultural Holdings, in 2020 there were 67,927 agricultural holdings in Slovenia. As many as two thirds of them were engaged in animal husbandry, with more than half (63%) of them engaged in cattle breeding. The number of livestock farms decreased by almost half (-42%) in the period 2000–2020.

The average Slovenian livestock farm breed 9.2 LU in 2020, which is 50% more than in 2000. As in other EU countries, the livestock density is decreasing in Slovenia as well, only in the period 2000–2016 it decreased by 17%. The presentation of the number of large livestock

According to the provisional data from the latest Census of Agricultural Holdings, in 2020 there were 67,927 agricultural holdings in Slovenia. As many as two thirds of them were engaged in animal husbandry, with more than half (63%) of them engaged in cattle breeding. The number of livestock farms decreased by almost half (-42%) in the period 2000–2020. The stocking density at the municipal level in 2010 shows a relatively atypical and dispersed spatial distribution.

Despite a very rapid decline in dairy-oriented holdings and a slightly less pronounced decline in the number of dairy cows, total production volume continues to grow with regular annual fluctuations. The reason is a marked increase in the concentration of milk production - the average number of dairy cows per agricultural holding in the period 2000–2016 increased by 114%, while the intensity of production also increased.

The average milk production per dairy cow (milk yield) in the period 2000–2019 in Slovenia increased by 1,553 kg or by 34%. Over the same period, average milk yield increased by 39% in Austria, by 49% in Belgium and by as much as 75% in Greece.

With almost 6,200 kg of milk per cow in 2019, Slovenia lags far behind some other Member States of the European Union, where the processes of concentration and intensification of production are much faster.

Wheat and maize for grain are the most important crops in Slovenia, and in 2020 11,589 (wheat and spelt) and 27,286 (maize) agricultural holdings were engaged in their production. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of agricultural holdings engaged in wheat and spelt production decreased by 63% and those engaged in maize production by 58%. In the observed period the total area under wheat and spelt decreased by 29% while in the case of maize, the areas decreased by 17%. The concentration of production per holding has greatly increased. The average production area of wheat and spelt and the average production area of maize per agricultural holding practically doubled in the period 2000–2020.

The intensity of wheat production, measured by the amount of yield per hectare, in Slovenia is at the level of the long-term average and is 0,51 tonne lower than in Austria and as much as 3,8 tonne per hectare lower than in Belgium. The yield per hectare in Slovenia has not changed significantly for several years. It is similar with maize, except that the annual fluctuation is slightly bigger due to climatic factors.

Slovenian agriculture is facing an unfavourable ownership and size structure, which largely prevents an increase in the intensity and competitiveness of agricultural production. Some agricultural policy measures and the use of new technological solutions (land operations, optimization of feed rations, lower use of plant protection products, improvement of soil properties etc.) can contribute to increasing the intensity, while reducing negative pressures on the environment.

Methodology

Last modified: 02.04.2021

Author(s): Matej Bedrač, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia

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[KM04] Intensity of agriculture

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