Given the increased attention to risk management in the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), it is important to monitor and evaluate the rates of adoption by farmers and their determinants over time. Current European agricultural statistics (Farm Accountancy Data Network) capture few indicators that assess such strategies, but complementing data collected during the EU Framework 7 project FLINT have allowed the adoption of risk management strategies and the determinants of farmers’ preference for complementary or substitute instruments to be assessed. Adoption rates of risk management instruments such as insurance contracts, price contracts, off-farm income, other types risk of reduction measures and other gainful activities vary signifi cantly across EU Member States and farming types. Econometric analysis indicates that larger farms more often adopt crop insurance, occupational accident insurance, price contracts and diversifi cation but are less likely to adopt credit avoidance and off-farm employment (at a signifi cance level of 1 per cent). For policy analyses these indicators are a step forward for the determination of the net impacts and establishment of counterfactuals in the long term (i.e. time series encompassing also adverse years) for measuring the impact of the CAP at farm level.

Innovation and adoption of innovation are considered key indicators of competitiveness and sustainability. Analysing data from 821 farms from eight Member States of the European Union in the frame of the EU Framework 7 project FLINT, this study provides an insight into the different adoption rates of five types of innovation in agriculture across Europe and suggests the potential effects of different factors, including farm type and farm size, subsidies and age, on farmers’ decision to innovate.