Page 174 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 1

STS423 Ylva A.R. et al.
1. Introduction
Technology is making rapid progress in agriculture, and the typical
Swedish farmer is more and more likely to have access to an array of different
technological tools. There is also a generational renewal under way, in which
young farmers transitioning in are more prone to be open-minded to new
technologies and tend to take digital solutions for data transmission for
granted. The array of tools ranges from PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets,
GPS and farm management software, to self-steering machinery and precision
farming. At the same time, many statistical surveys are struggling with high
costs of data collection, declining response rates, and obligations to reduce
the overall response burden for companies, including agricultural holdings,
i.e., the farmers. Therefore, to meet the increased demand for high quality agri-
environmental statistics, smart and cost -effective strategies for data collection
are essential. In Sweden, the responsibility for statistics in the area of
agriculture, including agri-environmental statistics, is shared among three
authorities: the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the Swedish Chemicals Agency
and Statistics Sweden; a range of surveys are conducted on a regular basis.
The aim of the present paper is to show examples from recent advances in
data collection implemented in a number of agricultural surveys conducted at
Statistics Sweden.

2. Methodology
The methods were developed for the two intermittent sample surveys Use
of fertilisers and animal manure and Cultivation measures in agriculture. The
main target characteristics in these surveys are: quantities of nutrients applied
to crops and different measures of aspects of handling of manure, such as
spreading technique and storage capacity, as well as age of fallow (set-aside)
land, age of temporary grasses, tillage methods, catch crops and liming.
Before the project started, both surveys had been struggling with gradually
increasing costs of data collection. The Use of fertilisers and animal manure
survey, in particular, struggled with costs, as it was entirely carried out via
telephone interviews. At the same time, there was a demand by data users for
greater detail in the statistical output from these surveys. Attempts to obtain
increased government funding had not been successful. Therefore, a major
review of the overall process and the methodologies of data collection was
unavoidable. The main data users and stakeholders were consulted. They were
presented with two options: 1) a lower level of detail in the statistical output
from the surveys, or 2) prolong survey intermittence from two to three years.
There was consensus for the second option. At the same time, several
opportunities for temporary additional funding arose and two pilot studies
were initiated, aiming to reduce the costs of data collection in the long term,
minimise the response burden and also, if possible, increase the level of detail

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