Introduction

The June Agricultural Census is an annual survey undertaken by the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) division. The census provides information on agricultural land use, livestock populations and the agricultural workforce in Scotland as at 1 June each year.

In addition to the annual core questions, since 2023 the June Agricultural Census has included a modular section that collects additional information on agricultural practices that do not need to be collected each year. Topics vary between years and have included areas such as crop rotation, fertiliser use, and irrigation methods.

The statistics are produced using a combination of administrative data sources and survey returns from approximately 17,000 agricultural holdings. This report describes the methodology used to produce the June Agricultural Census 2026 results and provides information on the quality and reliability of the statistics.

The statistics are produced following the Scottish Government Quality Management approach, aligned with the Code of Practice for Statistics 3.0 and the European Statistics Code of Practice five dimensions of quality (relevance, accuracy, timeliness, accessibility, comparability).