Official Statistics

Annex A: Category definitions

Updated 8 February 2024

Applies to England

1. Annex A: Category definitions

Category	June	BPS
Crop area (ha)	Areas of crops in the ground on 1 June. Includes areas of headlands and ditches.	The field area that is claimed for under BPS. The land must be at the farmer’s disposal with crops established, or intend to be established, on 15th May of the scheme year.
Wheat	Includes spring and winter wheat as well as buckwheat and spelt wheat.	Includes spring and winter wheat as well as buckwheat and spelt wheat.
Winter Barley	Winter barley only.	Winter barley only.
Spring Barley	Spring barley only.	Spring barley only.
Oats	Includes spring and winter oats.	Includes spring and winter oats.
Other cereals (excluding maize)	Includes rye, triticale and mixed grain. Excludes maize.	Includes rye and triticale. Excludes maize.
Potatoes	Includes earlies, main and seed.	Includes earlies, main and seed. Specifically excludes sweet potato.
Beet	Sugar beet only. Excludes beet for stockfeeding.	Covers a large selection of beet crops including sugar beet and beet for stock feeding.
Oilseed Rape	Includes spring and winter oilseed rape.	Includes spring and winter oilseed rape.
Other arable crops not for stockfeeding	Includes linseed, borage, other arable crops, short rotation coppice, miscanthus and crops for aromatic/medicinal use.	Includes linseed, borage, short rotation coppice and crop codes for mixed crops and mixed arable crops.
Field beans (includes field beans not for stockfeeding)	Includes field beans only.	Includes field beans, broad beans and vetch.
Peas (includes peas not for stockfeeding)	Peas for harvesting dry (for fodder) plus edible peas. The survey area also includes a small area of edible beans (<3,000 ha).	Includes feed peas, mange tout, marrow fat peas, snap peas, snow peas and vining peas.
Maize	Includes maize for grain, for anaerobic digestion and for fodder.	Includes corn, maize and sweetcorn.
Other crops mainly for stockfeeding	Includes root crops and other crops for stockfeeding as well as leguminous forage crops.	Includes soya, lucerne, lupin and mixed crops predominantly for fodder. Excludes any root crops or vegetables for stockfeeding.
Fruit & Veg (excludes peas and field beans)	Survey areas include all soft and top fruit, and all vegetables (peas and beans have been excluded to assist comparability between the two data sources).	The list of categories included in the BPS data can be found in the accompanying dataset.
Flowers	Survey areas include bulbs, flowers, nursery stock and Christmas trees.	The BPS data includes flowers only. The full list of categories included can be found in the accompanying dataset.
Fallow	Survey areas include uncropped arable land and all arable land not in production, including wild bird cover and game cover.	BPS areas include land lying fallow, catch and cover crops as well as hedges and buffer strips.
Permanent Grassland	Survey areas include grassland sown 5 or more years and areas of Sole rights rough grazing (lower quality grazing land including heathland, moors, hills and scrub). It excludes common grazing land.	BPS areas include land which is used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage for 5 or more consecutive years (self seeded or sown). It includes areas of bracken, salt marshes, reed beds and light scrub (including gorse bushes and briar) if the land is managed so that they are suitable for grazing and grasses and other herbaceous forage remain predominant. Area also includes areas of heather - where these are kept in a state suitable for grazing. It excludes areas of dense scrub which prevent grazing.
Temporary Grassland	Survey areas include all temporary grass or grass sown within the past 5 years. It does not include land used for livestock production.	BPS areas include land that has been in grass or other herbaceous forage for fewer than 5 consecutive years (self-seeded or sown). It also includes land used for livestock production, if it’s been used in this way for fewer than 5 years. This includes land used for outdoor pigs.
Woodland	Includes woodland but unlikely to capture very small woodland areas within other crops.	Includes all woodland areas, including very small areas with land parcels.
Non-agricultural land	Includes tracks, ponds, yards etc.	Includes any non-agricultural land, including very small areas such as outcrops etc.