The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture has refused a Freedom of Information request for the 2026 agricultural census return statistics.
The department says the figures are being held for future publication.
In its response, issued under Section 41, the Department said the data will be released by October 31, 2026, and that early disclosure would risk “incomplete or unverified information” entering the public domain without proper context.
The public interest test noted benefits to transparency and accountability, but the Department said these were outweighed by the need for a planned, quality‑assured release of the annual census.
