The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) is an instrument for evaluating the income of agricultural holdings and the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy.

The concept of the FADN was launched in 1965, when Council Regulation 79/65 established the legal basis for the organisation of the network. It consists of an annual survey carried out by the Member States of the EU.

The services responsible for the operation of the FADN collect every year accountancy data from a sample of agricultural holdings.

Derived from national surveys, the FADN is the only source of micro-economic data that is harmonised i.e. the book-keeping principles are the same in all countries.

Holdings are selected to take part in the survey on the basis of sampling plans established at the level of each region in the EU.

The survey does not cover all agricultural holdings, only those which, due to their size, are considered commercial.

The methodology applied aims to provide representative data that cover region, economic size and type of farming.

While the EC is the primary user of analyses based on FADN information, aggregated data can be found in the Standard Results database.