Farm income: multiple issues, definitions and uses[Le revenu agricole : une multiplicité d’enjeux, de définitions et d’usages]

Defining and evaluating agricultural income is a challenge for any public or private actor who refers to it. Macroeconomic indicators of agricultural income are relevant for comparisons between countries, while microeconomic indicators of agricultural income are relevant for comparing businesses in the same sector of activity, subject to a homogeneous fiscal and social environment. However, these indicators are subject to methodological shortcomings when comparing sectors of activity among themselves. Moreover, the income of agricultural households is not equivalent to the income derived from agricultural activities. Finally, at the farm level, the value of farm income is obviously influenced by production choices, system performance and the economic and political context (prices, support). However, insofar as farm income indicators are the basis for calculating the social contributions and taxes to which farmers are subject, the quantification of these indicators also depends on possible optimization strategies with respect to tax and social security regulations.