The holder of the agricultural holding is the natural person, group of natural persons or legal person who, acting freely and autonomously, assumes legal and economic responsibility for an agricultural or livestock holding and makes decisions regardless of whether or not they are the owner, their age or employment status (retired or not).

The holder may manage the holding directly, through another person (e.g. a family member or another salaried person) or jointly. Thus, the holder may have delegated all or part of the decision-making power with regard to the holding’s finances and normal daily production routines to a holding manager.

The following are considered holders:

- The owner when they directly manage their land, even if they have transferred all or part of the decision-making power to a holding manager.
- The tenant, sharecropper and anyone who, freely and autonomously, manages and assumes the risk of a holding, regardless of the type of tenure of the holding.
- The owner of unutilised or abandoned land, i.e. land that is not economically productive and is not utilised by any other person or company, is also considered a holder.

As such, a holder may play a triple role with regard to the holding for which they are technically and economically responsible:

a) Assume responsibility for the economic or financial performance of the holding and the risk of its results.

b) Make the main technical decisions regarding the use of the means available and exert administrative control over the operations of the holding.

c) Ensure the day-to-day management of work on the holding and make routine decisions on more minor issues.