Pesticide Usage in Scotland: Rodenticides on Grassland & Fodder Farms 2017

Appendix 2 - Survey statistics

Census and sample information

Table 6 Distribution of grassland holdings sampled - 2017

Size Group (ha)	H&I and C&O	Moray Firth	Aberdeen	Angus & East Fife	Lothian & Central Lowlands	Tweed Valley & Southern Uplands	Solway	Scotland
0.01 - 19.99	19	4	5	3	7	5	2	45
20.00 - 49.99	21	11	15	7	13	6	5	78
50.00 - 99.99	25	6	17	5	23	11	22	109
100.00 - 149.99	17	3	12	3	23	14	14	86
150.00 +	36	5	8	7	29	39	30	154
Total	118	29	57	25	95	75	73	472

H&I=Highlands & Islands, C&O=Caithness & Orkney. Note: These 472 holdings collectively grew 175,758 ha, four per cent of the 2017 total grass census area

Table 7 Census distribution of grassland holdings (excluding rough grazing) - 2017

Size Group (ha)	H&I and C&O	Moray Firth	Aberdeen	Angus & East Fife	Lothian & Central Lowlands	Tweed Valley & Southern Uplands	Solway	Scotland
0.01 - 19.99	11,134	2,009	3,818	2,160	4,210	1,688	1,248	26,267
20.00 - 49.99	1,566	477	1,004	440	1,324	487	419	5,717
50.00 - 99.99	936	248	557	239	1,159	436	528	4,103
100.00 - 149.99	374	94	186	94	468	271	331	1,818
150.00 +	370	89	109	92	391	483	347	1,881
Total	14,380	2,917	5,674	3,025	7,552	3,365	2,873	39,786

H&I=Highlands & Islands, C&O=Caithness & Orkney

Table 8 Distribution of fodder holdings sampled - 2017

Size Group (ha)	H&I and C&O	Moray Firth	Aberdeen	Angus & East Fife	Lothian & Central Lowlands	Tweed Valley & Southern Uplands	Solway	Scotland
0.01 - 4.99	12	4	7	3	2	2	2	32
5.00 - 9.99	10	8	13	7	7	6	4	55
10.00 - 14.99	4	2	4	4	6	6	4	30
15.00 - 19.99	3	1	2	1	2	3	7	19
20.00 +	3	5	3	2	3	6	5	27
Total	32	20	29	17	20	23	22	163

H&I=Highlands & Islands, C&O=Caithness & Orkney. Note: These 163 holdings collectively grew 1,901 ha, 12 per cent of the 2017 total fodder census area

Table 9 Census distribution of fodder holdings - 2017

Size Group (ha)	H&I and C&O	Moray Firth	Aberdeen	Angus & East Fife	Lothian & Central Lowlands	Tweed Valley & Southern Uplands	Solway	Scotland
0.01 - 4.99	472	212	358	102	141	101	56	1,442
5.00 - 9.99	105	79	155	79	95	78	71	662
10.00 - 14.99	30	29	43	24	39	40	45	250
15.00 - 19.99	10	13	19	6	13	29	19	109
20.00 +	10	15	19	8	23	15	21	111
Total	627	348	594	219	311	263	212	2,574

H&I=Highlands & Islands, C&O=Caithness & Orkney

Raising factors

Table 10 Raising and adjustment factors for grassland holdings - 2017

Region	Size group (ha)					Adjustment factor
	0.01-19.99	20.00-49.99	50.00-99.99	100.00-149.99	150 +
Highlands & Islands/Caithness & Orkney	586.00	74.57	37.44	22.00	10.28	1
Moray Firth	502.25	43.36	41.33	31.33	17.80	1
Aberdeen	763.60	66.93	32.76	15.50	13.63	1
Angus/East Fife	720.00	62.86	47.80	31.33	13.14	1
Central Lowlands & Lothian	601.43	101.85	48.29	20.35	13.96	1
Southern Uplands &Tweed Valley	337.60	81.17	39.64	19.36	12.38	1
Solway	624.00	83.80	24.00	23.64	11.57	1

Note: The sampled data within a region and size group were multiplied by the appropriate raising and adjustment factors to create an estimate of national use (please refer to Appendix 4 for description of statistical estimation process). For example, a total recorded rodenticide use of 10 kg on 100-150 ha sized farms in Aberdeen would be multiplied by 15.5 (raising factor) and 1.00 (adjustment factor) to give an estimated rodenticide use in that region and size group of 155 kg.

Table 11 Raising and adjustment factors for fodder holdings - 2017

Region	Size group (ha)					Adjustment factor
	0.01 - 4.99	5.00 - 9.99	10.00 - 14.99	15.00 - 19.99	20 +
Highlands & Islands/Caithness & Orkney	39.33	10.50	7.50	3.33	3.33	1
Moray Firth	53.00	9.88	14.50	13.00	3.00	1
Aberdeen	51.14	11.92	10.75	9.50	6.33	1
Angus/East Fife	34.00	11.29	6.00	6.00	4.00	1
Central Lowlands & Lothian	70.50	13.57	6.50	6.50	7.67	1
Southern Uplands &Tweed Valley	50.50	13.00	6.67	9.67	2.50	1
Solway	28.00	17.75	11.25	2.71	4.20	1

Note: The sampled data within a region and size group were multiplied by the appropriate raising and adjustment factors to create an estimate of national use (please refer to Appendix 4 for description of statistical estimation process). For example, a total recorded rodenticide use of 10 kg on 15-19.99 ha sized farms in Aberdeen would be multiplied by 9.5 (raising factor) and 1.00 (adjustment factor) to give an estimated rodenticide use in that region and size group of 95 kg.

Survey response rates

Table 12 Response rate for grassland survey - 2017

	2016	Percentage of total
Number of postal surveys sent out	1,335
Achieved rodenticide responses (no. returns)	472	35
Total number of refusals/non-contact	863

Table 13 Response rate for fodder survey - 2017

	2016	Percentage of total
Target sample	200
Total achieved	163	82
Total number of farms approached	283
Total number of refusals/non-contact	120

Financial burden to survey respondents

In order to minimise the burden on farmers, the survey team use non-visit methods of data collection such as email, post or telephone call, where possible.

To determine the total burden that the 2017 rodenticide use on grassland and fodder farms survey placed on those providing the information, farmers were asked to estimate the time that they spent providing data. Fifty four per cent of the farmers surveyed provided this information. The median time taken was five minutes.

In addition, PCPs were also asked to estimate how long they took to provide information. Eighty two per cent of the PCPs supplying data provided this information. The median time taken was 10 minutes.

The following formula was used to estimate the total cost of participating:

Burden (£) = No. surveyed x median time taken (hours) x typical hourly rate*

(* using median "full Time Gross" hourly pay for Scotland of £13.98 ^{[ 6]})

It is estimated that the total financial burden to respondents for the 2017 grassland and fodder crop rodenticide survey was £805.