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Abstract
This paper examines what, precisely, is meant by a 'farm', the criteria for the inclusion of individual
farms in a statistical register and the resulting enumerations and average sizes of farms in published
statistics. Alternative measures of farm size are examined and a relatively novel measure of
average farm size proposed to cope with the possibly uncertain population of farms. This is
illustrated with reference to data relating to the AARES countries and to the UK. Finally the
meaning of the expression 'part-time' as applied to farmers or farms is examined, with a call for
great clarity in its use.