In the world, more than 80 per cent of farms are family farms – in total more than 500 million economic and social entities. In Europe 25 million people, 172 million hectares of agricultural land and 12 million farms are involved in EU agricultural production. A vast majority of these farms are family farms and most of them are small or medium size farms: 69 per cent of all farms in the EU have less than 5 ha and 2.7 per cent have more than 100 ha.

Family farms show a rich diversity of activities, specialising in the production of permanent crops, field cropping or mixed cropping. Being the most common operational farming model in the EU, family farming is at the heart of the European model of agriculture. Family farms constitute the foundation upon which agriculture in Europe has thrived. Supported by a strong and ambitious policy framework, they are ensuring food security whilst meeting rising societal expectations for food safety, quality, value, origin and diversity. At the same time they maintain rural lifestyle and contribute to the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of rural areas.