Significantly fewer young stock, fraction more pigs

At the time of the phosphate reduction plan, livestock farmers mainly got rid of young stock, according to the preliminary agricultural census (1 April) by Statistics Netherlands. The number of cattle has shrunk by 4% to just under 4 million. The number of pigs shows a minimal increase.

As a result of the phosphate reduction plan, the cattle population in the Netherlands will again fall below 2013 million animals for the first time since 4. The count shows that the dairy herd has shrunk by 4% to 1,63 million cows. It is striking that in the past dairy farmers mainly disposed of young stock. This number decreased by 162.000 (-14%) to 1,15 million animals.    

The number of pigs in the Netherlands in the April count comes out at 12,5 million animals, compared to 1 year earlier, which is a minimal growth of 1%. In the December count growth was still 3,5%. However, this count is based on an estimate.

Veal calves, sheep and goats
The number of veal calves reaches a record high of just over 1 million (+5%). In the past, this limit was never crossed. The number of goats is also on the rise, growing by 12% to 597.000 animals. There are now about 45% more goats than 5 years ago. The shrinking number of sheep has come to an end, compared to 1 year ago there has been a slight increase to more than 810.000 animals.

View all sector-specific articles on the agricultural census.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

© 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.