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Agriculture
The agricultural sector’s productivity has grown enormously in the past few decades. This is largely due to high-quality training, first-class research and an effective system of disseminating practical advice to farmers. But growth is no longer a priority. The priorities now are the environment, animal welfare and the quality of produce. Eighty per cent of Dutch agricultural exports go to the EU, with Germany the largest market. The Netherlands also imports agricultural commodities, mainly for animal feed and the foodstuffs industry (coffee, tea and cocoa). A future for Dutch agriculture
The government’s vision on the future of Dutch agriculture is outlined in “ The Choice for Agriculture”. This memorandum sets out national and international developments over the next ten to fifteen years and how the agri-sector might profitably deal with them. Despite the challenges of increasing competition, market liberalisation and tighter environmental legislation, the memorandum underscores that there are good long-term prospects for agriculture in the Netherlands. But agricultural entrepreneurs will have to work together more closely to maintain their market position and reduce production costs. In the last 25 years, the number of agricultural holdings has declined by about 3% a year. Many farmers are pulling out of farming altogether; others are emigrating to countries where they see better prospects for farming. This trend will continue, so that the primary sector will comprise only about 60,000 holdings by 2015. At the same time, the remaining farms are getting bigger. In fifteen years, it will not be unusual to have glasshouse holdings with an area of 40 hectares. Other farmers prefer the multifunctional approach, combining agricultural production with services in the fields of care, tourism or recreation. Natural enemies in glasshouse production In recent decades, glasshouse production has expanded both in output and area. Its main products are flowers, vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, trees and bulbs. Glasshouse growers are currently spending large amounts to meet environmental targets agreed on with the government. The objectives are reduced fertiliser and pesticide use and less waste. Many growers, for example, use natural enemies instead of pesticides to protect their produce against harmful insects and diseases. Glasshouse growers are also implementing a voluntary energy agreement with the government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and use energy more efficiently. Designs for energy-producing glasshouses are also being tested. These glasshouses have underground reservoirs to store surplus heat produced in summer which can be used to heat glasshouses and homes in winter. Encouraging organic agriculture Organic farmers do not use synthetic chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. Their output is relatively small but growing. The government’s targets for this sector are for 5% of the supermarket assortment to be organic by 2007 and for 10% of total agricultural land to be under organic production in 2010. To achieve these targets, the sector is working to improve its sales structure, price competitiveness and operational management. Thirty per cent of Dutch consumers now regularly buy organic produce. Dairy production is the largest branch of livestock farming. In 1984, the EU introduced limits to dairy production in the form of milk quotas, which encouraged farmers to become more efficient, producing the same amount of milk with fewer cows. Dairy production in the Netherlands is tied to the land in contrast with intensive production, especially in the pig and poultry sectors, where animals are kept indoors and raised on bought feed. Most of the pork, poultry meat and eggs thus produced are exported. The outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) in the poultry sector in 2003, following earlier outbreaks of foot and mouth disease and swine fever, reopened the debate on intensive farming. Discussions were wide-ranging, extending beyond animal diseases and their control to issues such as public health, animal welfare, the environment, land use and trade relations. They also focused on the position of the farmers themselves and future prospects for them and their families. The two main branches of the Dutch fishing industry are deep-sea and coastal fishing. But fish and shellfish farming and freshwater fishing are also important. Sea and coastal fishing are done by a modern fleet of cutters and freezer trawlers. Cutters fish for sole, plaice, cod, whiting, herring and shrimp. The largest markets are for flatfish such as sole and plaice. Trawlers fish for herring, mackerel and horse mackerel. Shellfish farming is also important, mainly taking place in the waters of Zeeland (in the southwest of the Netherlands) and in the Waddenzee (between the Dutch mainland and the West Frisian Islands). Under EU fishing policy, the quota of fish that each member state may catch is decided annually by the European Commission, acting on the advice of marine biologists. The objective is to keep the stocks of each species above the safe biological minimum.
Agribusiness, the whole range of agriculture and related activities, is a very important industrial sector in the Netherlands. It encompasses the production of food, alcohol, tobacco and other non-food agricultural products, along with all the trade and services related to farming. More than half the produce of Dutch agriculture and market gardening is processed by the food, drink and tobacco industries. The agribusiness activities with the highest turnovers are abattoirs and meat-processing, dairy farming, animal feed production, the tobacco industry and the drinks industry.
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