Farm Practices Survey consultation
Published 5 February 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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Defra Farm Practices Survey- announcement of planned changes and invitation to provide feedback on the future of the survey
Background
The Defra Farm Practices Survey Farm practices survey - GOV.UK is an annual survey of farmers to establish how English farming practices are affected by current agricultural and environmental issues. The survey has run in its current form for several years with only minor changes made to the content and questions. In order to minimise the farmer survey burden and to prioritise data requirements, a review of the relevance and purpose of the survey is needed to assess if the survey is still meeting Defra’s priorities, providing value for money and meeting user needs.
This paper outlines our plans for the coming year and invites views from all interested parties on the current uses of the Farm Practices Survey data and the changes we are considering making.
Plans for 2025-2026
The February 2025 Survey will run as planned and results will be published in May/June 2025.
Thereafter, we plan to pause the Farm Practices Survey for one year (in 2026) whilst we review the purpose and content of the survey.
Options for the survey post-2026
The options we are considering are:
- To cease collecting the data and no longer run this survey.
- Reduce the survey frequency and content, i.e. only run a survey every other year and reduce the number of questions asked.
- Run the survey every year but rotate topics.
We would appreciate feedback on your need for statistics from the Farm Practices Survey and the purposes for which you need this data. We would also value your thoughts on the options being considered for the future and whether the pause in data collection will cause you any issues as a data user.
Please send feedback and comments titled “Farm Practices Survey Review” to farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk by 1st September 2025.