The intensity of agriculture is an indicator that reflects the level of increase in productivity of agricultural production, which is expressed per unit of agricultural area or per head of animal. It consists of four indicators for the selected key production orientations in Slovenia. For livestock production, it is calculated as the number of head of livestock units (LU) per hectare of utilized agricultural area (UAA) and the average milk production per dairy cow. For crop production, it is calculated as the average yield of wheat and spelt per hectare of UAA and the average yield of maize per hectare of UAA.

According to provisional data from the latest Census of Agricultural Holdings, in 2020 there were 68,331 agricultural holdings in Slovenia. As many as two thirds of them were engaged in animal husbandry, with more than half (63%) of them engaged in cattle breeding. The number of livestock farms decreased by almost half (-42%) in the period 2000–2020.

The average Slovenian livestock farm breed 9.1 LU in 2020, which is 50% more than in 2000. As in other EU countries, the livestock density is decreasing in Slovenia as well, only in the period 2000–2020 it decreased by 20%. The presentation of the number of large livestock unit per hectare of utilised agricultural area (LSU/UAA) at the municipal level in 2020 shows a relatively atypical and scattered spatial distribution of areas with different weights which is the result of a large share of grassland in the structure of agricultural land use.

Despite the rapid decline in the number of dairy oriented holdings and the decline in the number of dairy cows on these holdings, the average number of cows per holding is increasing. The reason for this is the abandonment of milk processing on small/self-sufficient holdings. The average number of dairy cows per holding increased significantly in the period 2000-2020, due to the increase in the number of cows on specialized dairy holdings. If in 2000 those holdings raised an average of 5 dairy cows, in 2020 holdings with dairy cows raised an average of 18 dairy cows.

Average milk production per dairy cow (milk yield) in the period 2000-2023 in Slovenia was 5,662 kg. In the same period, the average milk yield per dairy cow was 6.657 kg in Belgium, 6.359 kg in Austria and 5.991 kg in Greece. We can see that Slovenia still lags behind selected member states of the European Union, where the processes of concentration and intensification of production take place significantly faster.

Wheat and maize for grain are the most important crops in Slovenia. In 2020 11,338 (wheat and spelt) and 27,286 (maize) agricultural holdings were engaged in their production. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of agricultural holdings engaged in wheat and spelt production decreased by 63% and those engaged in maize production by 58%. In the observed period the total area under wheat and spelt decreased by 29% while in the case of maize, the areas decreased by 17%. The concentration of production per holding has greatly increased. The average production area of ​​wheat and spelt and the average production area of maize per agricultural holding practically doubled in the period 2000–2020.

The average yield of wheat and spelt in the period between 2000 and 2023 was 4.8 t/ha. The lowest was in 2003, when it was 3.5 t/ha, while the highest was in 2020, when it was 5.8 t/ha. Compared to selected European countries, Slovenia lags behind Belgium (8.5 t/ha) and Austria (5.3 t/ha), while Greece produces an average of 2.7 t/ha of wheat and spelt.

The average yield of grain corn in the considered period 2000-2023 was 7.9 t/ha. The worst year was 2003, when 5.1 t/ha were produced, while the highest hectare yield of corn was in 2020, when 10.8 t/ha were produced in Slovenia. Also in the production of corn, Slovenia lags behind selected EU countries. In the period 2000-2023, an average of 10.4 t/ha was produced in Greece, 10.0 t/ha in Austria and 9.2 tons of corn per hectare in Belgium.

Year-to-year fluctuations in hectare yields of wheat and spelt and grain maize are mainly the result of weather conditions.

Slovenian agriculture is facing an unfavourable ownership and size structure of agricultural holdings, which largely prevents an increase in the intensity and competitiveness of agricultural production. Some agricultural policy measures and the use of new technological solutions (land operations, optimization of feed rations, lower use of plant protection products, improvement of soil properties etc.) can contribute to increasing the intensity, while reducing negative pressures on the environment.