Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection – England and Wales
Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection (AD|ARC) is a UK-wide project linking de-identified data associated with farming individuals and households. Working in collaboration with government and academic organisations, AD|ARC is creating the first UK-wide dataset focused on agriculture. This has potential to benefit people and households in UK agriculture, and wider rural communities.
This year, the AD|ARC team has made two research-ready datasets available to accredited researchers, covering England and Wales. These research-ready datasets consist of two tables: a ‘farming individual’-level table; and a ‘farming household’-level table; as well as matched rural control groups in both England and Wales.
AD|ARC England research-ready dataset
The AD|ARC England dataset is available to apply to access from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service. It contains information from:
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2011 Census of Population
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2010 Rural Payments subsidy data
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2010 EU Farm Structure Survey
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2010-2020 Inter-Departmental Business Register.
Additional de-identified health and education datasets held by the various UK government administrations will be linked in future where available – the availability of these will vary by nation. Data for Scotland is anticipated to be available in the coming year and Northern Ireland will follow.
Research themes for AD|ARC
AD|ARC data can be used to explore a wide variety of policy-relevant research themes and questions. For example:
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How important is farm income as a share of total household income? Does this vary depending on different farm business, household socio-economic, and spatial attributes?
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How does the health of farmers and farming households compare with that of a rural control group?
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What are the characteristics of farm households and how do these affect things such as engagement with environmental programmes and land use patterns?
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What is the relationship between the educational attainment of farmers and farmers’ spouses or partners, and that of adults in a rural control group?
The AD|ARC England and Wales datasets were also included in the scope of the ADR UK Research Fellowships funding opportunity which launched in February 2024.
More information on the data included in AD|ARC can be found in the latest AD|ARC User Guides: Documentation - AD|ARC (adarc.ac.uk)