Farm Sustainability Data Network
Public database of economic, environmental and social farm-level data relating to Europe
Description
The Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN) is a public database aggregating individual farm-level data on farm income, business activities, and environmental and social sustainability performance, collected annually and reported by the Member States’s liaison agencies to the European Commission. The FSDN, enacted in 2025, replaces the Farm Data Accountancy Network (FADN).
Technology
FSDN data is collected through surveys undertaken by the Member States’ liaison agencies of a sample of returning farmers established in Annex II of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2746. The data are then validated and sent by the liaison agencies to the European Commission via a computerized system set up by the Commission itself. The FSDN includes data on the location and altitude of the farms, as well as the subsidies received, and is linked to the Integrated Administration and Control System of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), made possible by the assignment of a unique beneficiary ID to each farmer returning their survey to the liaison agency and registered in Integrated Administration and Control System.
Target
The FSDN targets a wide range of agriculture, food and rural development stakeholders in the European Union, including public, private and civil society organizations and the research and innovation sectors. Pre-accession countries with candidate status such as Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are also expected to align their electronic information systems with the FSDN.
Business model
Access to the FSDN databases is free of charge to all users, including farmers, researchers, evaluators and policymakers. Data collection and reporting is supported by EU public funding with a fixed payment amount of EUR 636 paid by the Commission to the Member States for every farm survey return delivered.
Impact
The FSDN aims to contribute to the development of evidence- and performance-based policies, as well as an analysis of the agricultural sectors in the Member States and in the Union as a whole, gauging progress and providing valuable guidance to policymakers. The FSDN is expected to contribute to the analysis of the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the CAP, to the improvement of advisory services to farmers and to the transparency and fairness of the agri-food supply chain.
Partners
EU Member States
Four Betters
Better production
Better nutrition
Better environment
Better life
