Show resilience or stop?

Dairy farming has had to deal with strong new measures and government intervention in recent years. The industry is increasingly encouraging grazing, but the introduction of the phosphate rights system is much more drastic. A number of dairy farmers have been hit hard by this.

It's not just the organic dairy farmers who are up in arms, because the extensive farmers are also making themselves heard. In addition, the farmers who have just invested heavily are in trouble. The farmers who have not caused the exceedance of the phosphate ceiling (the non-growers) are also making themselves heard.

For example, almost all dairy farmers put forward various arguments in favor of a more limited reduction in the number of dairy cows. However, there is currently no such space. Strictly speaking, phosphate production in dairy farming in 2017 was still a fraction above production in 2002, and therefore also above the sector ceiling. 

Great adaptability
It is special to see that the adaptability in this sector is high. From the agricultural census 2018 shows that the number of calves has fallen by 1% in 14 year and that the number of heifers has even decreased by 15%. The CBS figures also show that the number of dairy cows has decreased by more than 64.000 (-4%). For example, an increasing share of the phosphate rights is used for keeping dairy cows.

Relatively speaking, many dairy farms have closed. In the period between 2000 and 2017, the number of dairy cow farms decreased by an average of about 2,5% per year. In the last year (2017/2018 season), 5,6% of these farms said goodbye to the dairy cows.

Stoppers Regulation
Of course the stopper regulation also played a role. In 2017, approximately 500 dairy farmers made use of this scheme. Dairy farming shows resilience and is in transition. Whether this transition is also reflected in more grazing will become clear at the beginning of July. Then CBS will come up with new figures.

Cor Pierik

Cor Pierik (1965) is a Dutch agricultural economist, former Member of Parliament, and specialist in agricultural statistics and market data. He worked for over 33 years at Statistics Netherlands (CBS), where he focused on agricultural, environmental, and food production figures. Since 2026, he has been affiliated with DCA Market Intelligence, where he analyzes economic and sectoral developments in the agro- and food sector based on data. In addition, he is active in agricultural practice and as a consultant. He is co-owner of a multifunctional farm with sheep, Lakenvelder cattle, day care facilities, energy production, caravan storage, an orchard, and group accommodation.

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