Farmers own more and more land

The number of large agricultural landowners increased by 2010% between 2016 and 6. In 12.000, more than 2016 farmers owned more than 30 hectares of cultivated land. That is 22% of all farmers. This is according to figures from Statistics Netherlands.

In 2016, the Dutch agricultural and horticultural companies jointly owned about 1,04 million hectares of cultivated land. A third of them (38%) owned no more than 5 hectares and 3% owned more than 75 hectares of cultivated land. In 2010, only 2% owned more than 75 hectares.

The above large landowners owned about 2016% of all agricultural land in 15. In 2010 that was still 11%. Most large landowners in agriculture are located in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. In those provinces, respectively 18% and 8% of the farmers owned more than 75 hectares of cultivated land. 

Dairy farming stands out
In 2016, dairy farms in the Netherlands owned more than twice as much cultivated land as arable farms. Almost half of the dairy farmers owned 2 or more hectares last year. About 30% of the dairy farms owned more than 5 hectares (in 75 this was still 2010%). 

In 25, approximately 2016% of arable farmers owned more than 30 hectares of cultivated land. In 2010 this was still 22%. Of all arable farms, 7% owned more than 75 hectares of land (in 2010 this was still 5%).

Fewer farmers without land
The number of farmers who own no agricultural land at all has fallen. In 2010, 17% of farmers had no land of their own. In 2016, that number fell to 15% of arable and horticultural farms. 

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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