Variability of Profitability of Commercial Farms in the European Union

The main aim of the article is to determine the level and variability of income obtained on EU farms, classified according to the FADN methodology into eight agricultural types, and the share of subsidies for operational activities in the income obtained. The analysis covers the variability of the total number of farms in the EU keeping FADN accounting, their structure, and the level of income obtained in individual types of farming from 2004 to 2022. Absolute and relative increases were used to determine changes in the total number of farms. They showed that from 2004 to 2022, number of farms under FADN observation field decreased by 36%. The next step was to analyze the level of income obtained from the farm. The highest level of income in the examined period was recorded by farms specialized in the breeding of granivores. Then, the average value for a given year, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation were used to assess the level and variability of income in individual agricultural types. From 2004 to 2022, farms specialized in rearing and breeding granivores and mixed farms were characterized by strong variability in the income obtained from a family farm between 2004 and 2022. Average variability in the level of income was observed on farms specialized in rearing and breeding other grazing livestock, which also had the highest share of subsidies for operating activities.