The research paper presents the results of research on the situation and trends in the age structure of farm owners or managers in Latvia. The growing world population and the challenges caused by climate change make farmers reconsider their traditional farming practices. Therefore, scientists believe that the aging of farmers is a major obstacle to the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas, as evidenced by the age structure of European Union (EU) farmers and other agricultural workers. Generation renewal is crucial for sustainable land management and food production. In 2018, according to statistical data, the share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in total gross value added in Latvia was only 3.8%. However, these sectors were the main job creators and drivers of economic development in rural areas. Therefore, the aim of the present research is to assess trends in the age structure of farm managers and owners and the policy instruments applied in Latvia. The results of the research show that despite the policy instruments implemented in Latvia after its accession to the EU to support young farmers and promote early retirement of farm owners, the aging process of farm owners and managers occurs relatively fast. The median age of farm owners and managers in Latvia has increased from 53 years in 2009 to 57 years in 2019, which could hinder the development of the agricultural industry and prevent the new challenge of growing global food demand and the negative impacts of climate change from being tackled.

Production economics forms a very important part of an enormous range of economic theory. Agricultural production is no exception. When evaluating the competitiveness of the multifunctional agriculture, it is necessary to use the measure of efficiency instead of productivity. The conception of the efficiency is explained and the methods for measurement are provided. The authors discuss the methods of Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), Free Disposal Hull (FDH) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) that are particularly useful for multi-criterial evaluation of multifunctional processes. Those methods assign an efficiency score to each Decision Making Unit (DMU) based on how well it transforms a given set of inputs into outputs. Most studies have only focused on application of DEA method for assessment of the efficiency of agriculture farms. There is still a need on applications for sectors. This paper provides an examination of the applicability of DEA method to agriculture sectors efficiency measurement. By applying mathematical models, which are based on the DEA, the efficiency of agriculture in each EU country was evaluated.

The article deals with the problem of local mobility of peasants in Vilnius Governorate in the nineteenth century. To solve the problem, statistical-demographical data from the “Memory Books” permanently issued by the Tsarist Russian government was used. Pure demographic data brings little information, unless it is properly mathematically processed. Such processing leads to the discovering of new proportions concerning inhabitants, villages and farmsteads. Such proportions are related to the administrative territorial unit under investigation and show how many people reside in a farmstead and how many farmsteads are comprised in a village. In the course of time, numbers of villages and farmsteads change, and these numbers show the numbers of people taking part in local mobility of inhabitants. The higher are changes in villages and farmsteads, the higher is mobility of inhabitants.

This study aimed to identify the most characteristic trends in the area of fodder production and the use of fodder as factors in the development of animal husbandry in Ukraine under conditions of war as the modern challenge for these industries. Russian military aggression is a powerful challenge for the economy of Ukraine, including its fodder production, as well as other countries of the world, reflecting on the aggravation of global problems of food shortages and food security. The effect of the mentioned challenge in Ukraine is superimposed on the identified negative trends and situation, which were formed before the beginning of 2022. Calculations based on them show that the occupation of large areas of Ukraine by Russian aggressors and hostilities caused a significant decrease in the production of livestock products due to a 13–17% decrease in the number of animals. Accordingly, consumption of fodder at the expense of these regions decreased by 16%. However, the situation is very dynamic as the war continues. Given the limitations of state support for the industry, until the end of the war the main efforts to improve fodder production in Ukraine should objectively be related to the maximum optimization of the structure of fodder rations by increasing the share of less energy-intensive forages. Every challenge creates new opportunities, therefore the post-war development of fodder production and use in Ukraine will become highly innovative.