News Agricultural Census
Number of cows in extensive area back to old level
In the mostly northern provinces, the average number of dairy cows per farm has returned to the level before the introduction of phosphate legislation. This is shown by the provisional figures of the 2019 Agricultural Census of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The young stock has to suffer because of the legal system.
Just like in 2016, 1 average farm has 97 cows. With an average of 143 dairy cows, Flevoland has the largest farms, followed by Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe. In these provinces the average number of cows is back at (or even above) the level of 2016, when the restrictive influence of the phosphate legislation had not yet done its work. In North and South Holland the average number of cows is even above the level of 2016. In the case of South Holland this is probably due to a large number of stoppers.
Intensive provinces still need time
This does not apply to the provinces of Overijssel, Gelderland, Zeeland, North Brabant and Limburg. The average number of cows there is still below the level of 2016, although there is growth. It can be concluded from this that so-called extensive provinces (in terms of number of cows) are back at their old level. The more intensive provinces still need time. It should be noted, however, that this situation can deviate considerably from the average per company (in whichever province).
Between May 2018 and May 2019, the number of companies shrank by 707 to more than 16.200. A trend that has been going on for years. In the past 3 years, South Holland (-16,9% to 1.059 companies) lost relatively the most. In absolute numbers, the province of North Brabant had the most quitters. In that province, the number of companies has decreased by 2016 since 347 to 2.080 units.
Accounting growth in Utrecht
The province of Utrecht is an outsider when we take a closer look at the count. Both the number of farms (+90 to 1.190) and dairy cows (+8.210 to 93.729) grew there, while the young stock has remained virtually the same. After North and South Holland, Utrecht is the most densely populated province in the Netherlands, so growth figures are not immediately obvious.
Cor Pierik, the agricultural spokesperson for CBS, reports that this growth is due to a reclassification of the number of municipalities. This is how the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden has been created since 2019. This is a merger between Leerdam, Vianen and Zederik, the latter of which previously belonged to South Holland. This also explains the large contraction in South Holland.
Phosphate space to dairy cows
In June Statistics Netherlands reported that the number of cattle has shrunk by 3% to 3,8 million, the lowest number in more than 10 years. Within this, the number of dairy cows decreased by 2,7% to 1,57 million. For the number of young cattle destined for dairy farming, the service reported a decrease of almost 10% to 920.000 over the past year. This means that the young stock has fallen through the 1 million mark for the first time since the turn of the century.
When we look at the past 3 years, the young stock in all provinces has lost significantly. As is known, Dutch dairy farmers keep as few young stock as possible, in order to allocate the phosphate space as much as possible to dairy cows. In the period between 2016 and 2019, the Dutch young stock shrank by 30%. The contraction was greatest in North Brabant (-35,8%), followed by the provinces of Limburg and South Holland.
Wouter Job
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