Less fully cultivated land

The total agricultural area operated by those who applied for agricultural production subsidies in 2010 was of the same size as the year before, and covered 10.1 million decares. From 2009 to 2010, the area of fully cultivated land dropped by 1 per cent to a total of 8.3 million decares.

The total agricultural area dropped by 198 000 decares from 2006 to 2010, while the fully cultivated part was reduced by 256 00 decares during the same period. The decline in the agricultural area is a result of the improvement in the basis for measurement and control of the agricultural area on the holdings. Digital maps were constructed based on aerial photos, leading to a decline in the agricultural areas compared with the old maps. The new maps were adopted in 2006, and it is anticipated that all municipalities will use the maps as from 2013. The new maps were used by 182 municipalities in 2009. Another important reason for the decline in the agricultural area is that marginal areas are taken out of use.

The total grain area dropped by 38 000 decares to a total of 3 million decares in 2010. Barley comprised 49 per cent of the total grain area, while oats and wheat covered 25 and 24 per cent respectively. The average holding with grain grew 225 decares of the corresponding crops this year.

Fewer dairy cows

The number of dairy cows fell by 1 900 to 238 000 in 2010. Since 1999, the number of dairy cows has been reduced by nearly 25 per cent, while the number of beef cows has nearly doubled.

The number of breeding pigs decreased by 3 per cent from 2009 to 2010, to a total of 97 000. The number of dairy goats dropped by 3 per cent to 37 000 in the same period.

Organic farming

Organic farmland covered 440 000 decares of agricultural area in use, or 4.1 per cent of the total area in 2010. A total of 30 800 cattle were approved for organic farming in 2010. About 8 800 of these were dairy cows and 4 000 beef cows.

Source: Statistics Norway