Monitoring Agricultural Prices
Agriculture is an important industry in Europe. Millions of people within the EU worked in the agricultural sector in 2023, while hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide – also outside Europe – depend on the products of agricultural businesses in the EU. In 2018, the EU spent 58.8 billion euros on agricultural subsidies, for example to produce safe and affordable food. It is therefore logical that the EU wants to monitor agricultural prices closely. What farmers receive for the products they produce and how does this affect the profitability of the sector? Additionally, the EU wants to see whether certain pricing leads to policy measures and how European policy affects prices. This says Jop Woltjer, researcher at WSER.From Grains to Animal Feed
For about fifteen years, CBS has been sending data on agricultural prices to Eurostat. The data is provided by WSER, a research institute within Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The statistics have four pillars, Mus explains. The first is input: the price of everything needed to produce. Think of animal feed, seeds, and crop protection products. The second pillar is output: the price of everything that is produced, from grains to meat. The data on input and output is sent to Eurostat every quarter. The prices of agricultural land are pillar three and the rental prices of agricultural land are pillar four. This data is sent to Eurostat annually.Pure Comparisons
For years, the submission of this data to Eurostat was not mandatory, but since this spring, that obligation has been established. Mus: The EU decided in 2023 on a European regulation. Each EU member must now submit figures quarterly since 2025. For the Netherlands, this means that CBS provides the figures and is responsible for meeting the European quality criteria. These criteria are important because they ensure that all member states submit the same statistics. This allows for pure comparisons between countries.
Little Burden
Another example of a quality criterion is that the agricultural sector should be burdened as little as possible. Farmers should not spend extra time on top of their usual data submissions for other purposes. We have succeeded well in this. The agricultural price statistics are almost entirely based on existing data sources. The only addition was a CBS questionnaire to 40 veterinary companies to get an overview of their costs. It was not necessary to set up other surveys for the sector, says Mus.Accounting
The agricultural price statistics must provide a representative picture of the sector. With which information sources has that been achieved? Woltjer: Price information in the agrifood sector is collected, measured, and weighted according to a fixed pattern. Depending on the product, it concerns daily, weekly, or monthly prices. The data from various sources are combined and weighted to arrive at representative prices per product. We utilize a broad network of sources. For example, suppliers and agricultural producers, but also buyers and processors of agricultural products. Think of industry associations, cooperatives, vegetable auctions, and slaughterhouses. The participation of these parties is essential for the quality and continuity of price collection. Through other sources, we gather additional information. An example is organizations that manage the central purchasing of products for farms.Expenditures on Agricultural Prices
Mus: CBS also processes CBS data in the agricultural price statistics. It concerns data from the Producer Price Index, Consumer Price Index, and Services Price Index. What does it concern? The expenditures of agricultural businesses on maintaining stables and their investments in materials. We find out the prices for harvesting machines in this way. Furthermore, the industry association for fruits and vegetables sends data directly to CBS for the agricultural price statistics.Development of Milk Prices
The agricultural price statistics are not only intended for Eurostat and the European Union. Everyone has access, says Mus. Both citizens and professionals from the industry, as well as national and international policymakers. Woltjer: At WSER, we often hear from farmers that they value the information. It is current: the data is refreshed every quarter. And for consumers, the agricultural price statistics are also useful: for example, you can see how the milk price has developed.Other Roles
Since the European regulation, the roles of CBS and WSER have changed. Mus: In the old situation, WSER provided the figures to CBS and CBS sent them to Eurostat. Now that CBS is required and responsible for the quality of the agricultural price statistics, we are expected to check whether the statistical processes of WSER meet the European quality requirements. We have therefore started to collaborate more closely with WSER. We have made beautiful strides in this. In the past two years, not only has the quality of the agricultural price statistics improved, but also the quality of our collaboration.New Balance
Woltjer: We have sought a new balance. WSER has been providing data in a certain way for years. It is a bit of an adjustment when the other party suddenly looks over your shoulder and asks why you used a certain source or method. We had to figure out who takes which responsibility in the new situation. CBS logically tends to focus on the perspective of the quality requirement, while we look more through the lens of the sector. But ultimately, we succeeded together in creating a qualitative and representative picture of price development in that sector. We have come to a good collaboration in the past two years, which allows for the quality of CBS and the quality of WSER.Relevant Links
- StatLine - Agricultural Prices
- Article - Facts and Figures about Agriculture
- Website - Agriculture
- Privacy Rules CBS - Privacy