News Agricultural Congress 2019
Halving livestock costs at least 5 billion
Livestock has an annual production value of €10,5 billion. "Having the Dutch livestock herd therefore costs at least €5 billion," reports Cor Pierik, agricultural economist at Statistics Netherlands (CBS), on Wednesday 18 December at the National Economic Agriculture Congress in Amersfoort.
"Livestock farming is very important for the economy in our country and involves 64.000 full-time jobs," Pierik says at the start of his speech. By itself, livestock farming contributes 0,5% to the gross domestic product. This does not seem like much, but this percentage quickly increases if the periphery (including animal feed companies and slaughterhouses) is also included. According to Pierik, the total contribution of the agricultural sector in the Netherlands, including the vegetable sector, is just under 10%. That is a considerable leg under the economy.
Halving the livestock, as proposed by D66 MP Tjeerd de Groot in the autumn as a solution to the nitrogen crisis, costs a lot of money and a lot of jobs, according to Pierik. The economist says that the production value will then be halved anyway. A large part of the livestock farms will then also go bankrupt.
An argument often used by livestock critics is that the bulk of agricultural production is exported. Pierik also concludes that. He does qualify, however, that approximately 77% of agricultural exports remain within the eurozone. About 25% of exports go to Germany, so it depends on how narrowly you take the definition of export.
Eye for nitrogen problem
In addition to the economic value, Pierik also points out the influence of agriculture on nature. More specifically: the emissions of nitrogen. According to Pierik, the challenge for the coming years is to find a balance between the economy and ecology. In this he mainly refers to the nitrogen problem in the Netherlands, of which agriculture is to blame on paper for 45%.
Again Pierik makes a comment. The nitrogen loss in the soil has decreased by about 90% since the early 40s. The losses to the air even increased by 62%. That does not mean that the sector can sit back and relax. According to Pierik, a reduction can still be achieved by administering concentrates.
Pierik points to partnerships as a solution direction. "If the dairy farmers and arable farmers cooperate as much as possible at the provincial level, you can eliminate the nitrogen surplus for dairy farming in a large part of the provinces." This is only possible in the provinces of Friesland, Overijssel and Utrecht. In between, Pierik also mentioned that the sector is the only sector that produces more energy than it consumes, meaning that farmers do more than produce food.
Wouter Job
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
