To determine the stock of pigs, sheep and goats on the reference date 1 December, about 7 000 agricultural holdings are selected annually in the course of the livestock survey by means of stratified random sampling and are surveyed directly. On the basis of the stock reports of the surveyed units, state and federal stocks are determined by extrapolation after completion of the associated plausibility procedure.
The results obtained in this way not only serve to fulfill related EU-wide reporting obligations, but also form an important data basis for the compilation of the economic accounts for agriculture, supply balances and gross indigenous production forecasts.