Typologie des cultures des exploitations agricoles en 2010

• Large-scale crops and livestock dominate the entire North Sea-English Channel-Atlantic arc. Large-scale crops are significant from the north to Seine-Maritime. Grassland and forage are very prominent in Calvados and especially in Manche. • The coasts of Brittany and Pays de la Loire are characterized by large-scale crops combined with intensive livestock farming. Vegetable growing is also significant, especially in North Brittany. Viticulture is also present in Charente-Maritime.

In continental Mediterranean regions, specialized crops dominate: vineyards and other maintained crops (orchards and small fruits) alongside vegetables. In Corsica, rangelands and grasslands are very numerous, with viticulture present in Haute-Corse.

Finally, overseas territories are marked by the prominence of vegetable, fruit and sugarcane crops characterizing a large portion of overseas municipalities.

• Six typological classes based on the distribution of major crop types in agricultural holdings were revealed by statistical analysis (see methodology). • These classes, once defined, were studied in relation to additional qualitative variables (municipality type – urban/peri-urban/rural) and especially quantitative variables (demographic and tourism variables, land use, etc.).

• The first class brings together one tenth of the studied municipalities. It includes four fifths of coastal overseas municipalities. In mainland France, it is more significant on the coast than inland. Industrial crops destined for processing (especially sugarcane), vegetable and potato crops, and maintained crops (fruit trees) are very important. At 0.8% of agricultural land, flower crops are also five times more important in this group than the average for all studied municipalities. • On average, there are 1.6 AWU (agricultural work units) per farm with relatively few cattle. Population density in affected municipalities is high, approximately 350 inhabitants per km². This implies a significant level of artificial development. More than half of municipalities are urban and the tourism function rate of affected mainland municipalities is relatively low. • This class groups many municipalities with urban/peri-urban agriculture: low share of agricultural land in clear decline, -24% from 1988 to 2000, high population and importance of vegetables, flowers and orchards in crop rotation, often intended for local sales channels.

• Class 2 comprises 8% of studied municipalities, both mainland and overseas. Low-productivity grasslands (rangelands, moorlands) dominate agricultural land, representing nearly three quarters of the area. Intensive crops are sparse. Agricultural land represents only one tenth of land use. • Population density in affected municipalities is low, averaging 67 inhabitants/km². This is the lowest density of the six classes. Artificially developed areas are limited and only one in eight municipalities is urban. Secondary residences are numerous in the housing stock and the tourism function rate is high. Migration balances are significant in the recent period and natural balances are nearly zero.

• Class 3 comprises 428 municipalities, or 21% of the total. The main forage area is significant, with 84% of agricultural land, divided between permanent grassland (51%) and forage crops. Dairy cattle herds are more numerous than beef cattle herds. • Class 3 is more prevalent mainland, especially inland from the coast, than overseas. Average population density is relatively low and few municipalities are urban, with artificially developed areas among the lowest of the six typological classes.

• Class 4 has the smallest number of municipalities, with just under 8% of the total, or 163 municipalities. They are almost all located mainland, with a higher proportion on the coast than inland. Vineyard land represents just over half of agricultural land. It is mainly accompanied by grasslands and cereals. There are close to two AWU per farm. • Population density is relatively high, just over 150 inhabitants/km² and migration balances are very strong between 2007 and 2012. Tourism is important, with a tourism function rate close to two and a significant share of secondary residences in the housing stock. Agricultural land has declined sharply since 1988.

• Class 5 comprises one fifth of studied municipalities, or 418. Mainland, they include close to a quarter of coastal municipalities and 19% of inland municipalities. The main forage area represents 60% of agricultural land, mainly represented by forage crops, silage maize and artificial grasslands. Cereal crops are fairly significant, comprising close to a third of crop rotation. Average density of dairy cattle is high, as is that of pigs. This class is therefore characterized by intensive agriculture with livestock and large-scale crops. • Small farms are few in number, as is the share of farmers/co-farmers over 55 years old. Affected municipalities have relatively high population density and are relatively non-tourist. Agricultural land occupies close to three quarters of land use, the highest ratio of the six classes.

• Class 6 is the largest. It groups one third of studied municipalities. Mainland, they are particularly numerous inland from the coast. Large-scale crops dominate crop rotation. Cereal crops occupy 45% of agricultural land. Oilseeds, protein crops, industrial crops and potatoes are also significantly more important than in the other five classes. • Small farms are few and agricultural land has declined significantly less in municipalities of this class than in others. Migration balances are moderate in the recent period and tourism is average for studied municipalities.

• Class 1 is present in all coastal regions. Mainland, except in coastal municipalities of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, it never represents a high proportion of municipalities, either on the coast or inland, where it is generally somewhat less present (especially in Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur). It is, however, very dominant in the four overseas departments. • Class 2 is rarely dominant, except in Corsica, both on the coast and inland.

• Class 3 is especially important in Normandy. It is also fairly present in Pays de la Loire, South Atlantic, Corsica and French Guiana. • Class 4 is mainly present in southern France, South Atlantic and around the Mediterranean, primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon.

• Class 5 is present in western France, from Brittany to Pays de la Loire. • Finally, class 6 is significant in Hauts-de-France and Normandy, extending the cereal plains of the greater Paris basin. It is fairly well represented in Pays de la Loire and on the South Atlantic coast. It is very minor in the Mediterranean and absent overseas.

• Class 1 is mainly present overseas, in Alpes-Maritimes and Var, in rather urban context. It is also fairly significant in Bouches-du-Rhône, Pyrénées-Orientales, Loire-Atlantique and Breton coasts (vegetable crops on north coast of Brittany). • Class 2 is important in Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse (poor grasslands and maquis). It is also sporadically present in Antilles, Somme, Morbihan, Vendée, Aquitaine and continental Mediterranean.

• Class 3 is mainly present on the English Channel-Atlantic arc. It is very significant in Manche and Calvados. It is also notable in Center-Atlantic, from Vendée to Gironde, in Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Haute-Corse. • Class 4 is present in Charente-Maritime, Landes and around the Mediterranean. It is very significant from Pyrénées-Orientales to Hérault and from Bouches-du-Rhône to Var. It is fairly notable in Haute-Corse.

• Class 5 clearly characterizes agriculture in western France. It is very significant from Côtes-d'Armor to Loire-Atlantique. It is notable near this area, in Ille-et-Vilaine and Vendée, as well as in Landes. • Class 6 is significant on the margins of the Paris basin, from Nord to Calvados, on the margins of the Aquitaine basin (from Vendée to Pyrénées-Atlantiques), and in the heart of the Camargue (rice cultivation).

• In parallel with work on crop typology on the coast, work was carried out to characterize coastal agriculture from a socio-economic angle. It resulted in a viability scale for farms ranging from the most fragile (small economic size farms, older farmers, etc.) to the most prosperous (high standard gross production, good training level, etc.). • The intersection of these two typologies is presented in the figure below.

There is a fairly clear link between crop types and the farm viability scale. Classes 5 and 6, grouping large-scale crops alone or with intensive livestock operations, are fairly prosperous. Thus, 82% of municipalities with prosperous agriculture are in classes 5 and 6.

Conversely, classes 1 and 4 focused on specialized crops (vineyards, maintained crops, fruits, vegetables, flowers, sugarcane) are mainly classified as agriculture in difficulty. Nearly three quarters of municipalities in class 4 "vineyards and other crops" are affected and over half of municipalities in class 1 "vegetables, fruits, flowers, sugarcane".

Classes 2 and 3, marked by the importance of livestock, group mainly municipalities with low-profitability agriculture. Class 2 "rangelands and natural grasslands" with rather extensive livestock includes no municipalities with prosperous agriculture.

Hierarchical agglomerative clustering was performed using Ward's method (maximization of the interclass inertia of the point cloud), based on the coordinates of studied municipalities on the axes of principal component analysis.

• The most homogeneous classes (low average distance of various municipalities of the studied class to the centroid of the same class) are classes 2, 3 and 5. Differences between municipalities are stronger in classes 1 and 4. These classes marked by the importance of specialized crops can indeed group municipalities with very different crop rotations: municipalities specialized in vegetable crops in north Brittany and municipalities covered with fruit trees or olives around the Mediterranean. • As shown in the graphic representation below (coordinates of class centroids and studied variables on axes 1 and 2 of principal component analysis), the classes are perfectly distinct, with classes 1 and 4 being fairly close and characterizing specialized crops.

• Methodology • A typological analysis was conducted to characterize coastal agriculture and the distribution of different crop types. Major crop types were included in principal component analysis (PCA) then hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC). These statistical methods allow definition of homogeneous municipality classes according to the criteria studied. • Useful agricultural land (UAL) is distributed globally as follows: • arable land: cereals, oilseeds (rapeseed, sunflower), protein crops (peas, faba beans, etc.), industrial crops for processing (sugarcane, sugar beet, flax, etc.); • main forage area (MFA): it includes forages (silage maize, artificial grasslands) and permanent grassland (PG), such as natural grasslands and low-productivity herbaceous surfaces (rangelands, moorlands); • specialized crops: vegetables (potatoes, fresh vegetables), vineyards, flowers and maintained permanent crops (nurseries, small fruits and orchards including olives). For each farm, data are attributed to the municipality of its headquarters. All these variables were considered taking into account their respective shares in UAL.

Author: Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES).