The farmers’ protests, the political party for farmers and the media attention; you would almost think that the Netherlands is a farmland. In terms of surface area, two thirds of the land area can be designated as farmland. The number of farms halves every 25 years, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands.
At the beginning of this century, the Netherlands still had around 100,000 farms, but last year that number had just barely halved to 51,000. “We also include agricultural and horticultural companies as farms,” says agricultural economist Cor Pierik of Statistics Netherlands.
“Every 25 years, the number of farms halves, we know from the past.” That would imply that at some point there will be no more companies left. “We look at the present and the past, and not at the future,” says the CBS economist. “But no more farms at all, that is not the most logical future perspective.”
The decline in the number of farms is partly explained by economies of scale, a phenomenon that started around 1970. “The pace of scaling up is leveling off,” says Pierik. This is partly due to the high land prices. “And of course we are on the eve of reducing the herd. That has already started with pigs.”
‘There are also farmers who are only farmers on paper’
According to the CBS figures, the number of farmers who are active is more than 106,000. “These are the family workers on the farm, the real farmers and farmer’s wives.” In total, almost 180,000 people work on the farms, excluding seasonal workers. That is 100,000 less than at the beginning of this century.
According to Pierik, the statistics are somewhat distorted. “We also have to deal with latent stoppers. On the one hand, there are farmers who are waiting for a purchase arrangement to stop completely, and on the other hand, there are farmers who rent out their land.”
Farms are a capital asset. “Once sold, the tax authorities are knocking on your doorstep. As a result, there are also farmers who are only farmers on paper.”
Two thirds of the total land area in the Netherlands is managed by agricultural and horticultural companies, as it is called. “We don’t count water surface, because you can’t let cows graze there,” says Pierik.
