A quarter of Dutch dairy farms with a farmer aged 55 or older have no successor. This is apparent from research by AgriDirect that took place this spring.
Of the 4.200 companies that shared data with the research firm, 27% said they had no successor to the company. In 55% of the companies a successor is in the picture and in a total of 32% of the total number of companies this successor has already entered the company. At 18% of the companies in the survey it is still unknown whether or not there will be a successor.
Majority of companies want to continue business in the current way
In the survey, the participating companies were also asked about plans for the future. The vast majority of dairy farmers with a farm over 55 years (68%) indicate that they want to continue the business in the current way. About 14% of the companies want to focus on scaling up. In addition, 4% of the respondents want to stop or wind down the company. The other participants want to develop the company in a different industry or opt for relocation.
Looking at all dairy farms (not only those with a farm manager older than 55 years), it appears that there are more expansion plans. Of this group, 42% still have expansion plans and 54% want to continue the company in the current way.
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