Size of Slovenian farming

establishments in 2005 (share

relative to the UAA surface area)
According to provisional data
from the 2007 sample census
survey, just above 75,000
farming establishments in
Slovenia are engaged in
agriculture, which is 2.4% less
than two years before.
Production types of
farming establishments
23.29
36.10
25.62
11.43
2.21
0.94
0.27
0.13
0 - < 2
2 - < 5
5 - < 10
10 - < 20
20 - < 30
30 - < 50
50 - < 100
>= 100
0.S
21.S
s1cck iAxmiNc
mixio riAN1 rxco. ANo s1cck iAxmiNc
AxAaii iAxmiNc
ucx1icui1uxi
rixmANiN1 cxcrs
cxAziNc iivis1cck
mixio riAN1 rxcouc1icN
rics ANo rcui1xY
15.5
4.2
0.S
9.1
2S.6
19.2
9
Agriculture
Intensive structural changes have
slowed down the decrease in the number
of farms, which characterised the second
half of the 1990s. This period did not
record any substantial abandonment
of agricultural land and so the average
size of farms remained more or less
unchanged and totals 6.5 hectares of
utilised agricultural area (UAA). At the
same time, the number of farms with
more than 20 hectares of agricultural
land has increased.
Utilized agricultural area
(UAA) regarding its purpose
Number of livestock
iiiios ANo cAxoiNs
miAocws ANo cxAssiANo
rixmANiN1 riAN1A1icNs
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000

1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2006

xAaai1s
ucxsis
suiir ANo ccA1s
rics
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
S00,000
900,000
1,000,000
1997 2000 2003 2005 2006
10 11
Slovenia with 490,939 hectares of
utilised agricultural area contributes
about 0.30% to the total surface area
of the
agricultural
land of
the EU-25
members
(excluding
Romania
and
Bulgaria).
Similarly,
agricultures
importance
relative
to other
primary
economic
branches is not insignificant and the
same is true of its relationship with the
secondary and tertiary sectors.
A specific problem faced by Slovenian
agriculture is the age structure of farmers
on family farms. The share of those
younger than
45 years is only
17.7%, a slightly
higher share of
farmers is seen
in the 45 to 55
years age group
(24.5%), whereas
most farmers
are above 55
years old (58.5%).
Slovenia is
fully aware of
this problem,
which is also
the reason
for the slower
transfer of knowledge to farms, therefore
a number of measures have been taken
in the last few years to encourage ageing
farmers to retire and transfer their farms
to their descendants, and to encourage
the young to decide to take over. It is
also a fact
that on farms
larger than 10
hectares the
ratio between
the age groups
is more
favourable as
59% of farmers
are younger
than 55.
This indicates the great importance
of stock farming in Slovenia. Primarily,
ruminants are being bred and, of these,
the breeding of sheep
and goats is very
much on the increase
although, on average,
the number of livestock
units (LU) per farm is
decreasing (6.3 LU).
The share of agriculture in the gross
domestic product (GDP) is slightly lower
than the European average and totals
just under 2%. Despite the small share
in GDP, agricultures significance is
greater than it seems at first sight. The
multipurpose roles of agriculture in the
Slovenian rural area are no longer just
words on paper; instead, it has become
publicly recognised and with its specific
results it is making progress.
Meadows and pastures represent
as much as 60% of agricultural
land, while more than 20% of
fields are intended for the
production of feed (maize, root
crops, green feed).
Stock farming production
Stock farming is also the
most important agricultural
branch in terms of value.
In Slovenia up to 449,000
hectares are defined as
areas with limiting factors.
miik (mii ci ii1xis)
iccs (mic)
ricmiA1 (000 1cNs)
rcui1xYmiA1 (000 1cN)
acviNimiA1 (000 1cNs)
suiirmiA1ccA1miA1 (000 1cN)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1997 2000 2003 2005 2006
12 13
In the Slovenia-EU accession
negotiations, a milk quota of 560,424
tonnes (467,063 tonnes of which was
to be sold to dairies and the rest was
for direct sale) was first allotted to
Slovenia. Permanent
and temporary
conversions from
the supply quota to
a direct sale quota
and an increase
envisaged in 2006
followed. Thus, the
available national
quota for 2006/2007
was 576,638 tonnes,
96% of which went
to supply dairies. In
2006, 623.5 million
litres of milk were
produced.
In the production of meat in 2006,
41,211 tonnes of carcass weight of beef
meat was produced at home, 63,100
tonnes of carcass weight of pig meat and
50,100 tonnes of poultry meat.
These are hilly and mountainous
areas with Karst features or other factors
that limit possibilities of farming. Only
10% of Slovenian municipalities have no
areas with limiting factors within their
boundaries. In these areas, farms are
entitled to subsidiaries, which totalled
EUR 43.8 million or 50.5% of the budget
expenditures of the rural development
policy in 2006.
The total value of
agricultural output
is 959 million EUR,
to which stock
farming contributes
511 million EUR. Otherwise, Slovenias
contribution to the total value of
agricultural output of the EU-25 is about
0.31%, which is nearly the same as its
share of its utilised agricultural area.