Definition: Farm labour force of the holding

Category: Agriculture statistics

The farm labour force of the holding includes all persons having completed their compulsory education (having reached school-leaving age) who carried out farm work on the holding during the 12 months ending on the reference day of the survey.

Unless national legislation indicates the minimum age of full-time and part-time compulsory education, 15 years is to be taken as the conventional school-leaving age.

Sole holders who do not carry out farm work on the holding are recorded in the survey, but are not counted in the "Total farm labour force".

All persons of retirement age who continue to work on the holding are included in the farm labour force.

Persons working on the holding but employed by a third party or under mutual-aid arrangements (e.g. labour supplied by agricultural contractors or cooperatives) are not included. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:329:0001:0028:EN:PDF