Organic farming grows in poultry and dairy sectors

26/01/2017 15:00

The organic share in the total agricultural surface has grown by nearly 10 percent over the past five years, now occupying approximately 52 thousand hectares. Between 2011 and 2016, the number of organic farms went up by nearly 2 percent, reaching a total of 14 hundred. In livestock farming, the organic poultry sector (+65 percent) and dairy cattle sector (+54 percent) showed the highest growth. Statistics Netherlands reports this today on the basis of the latest figures over 2016.

Livestock on organic farms
	Chickens	Mature dairy cattle	Goats	Bovines (total)	Pigs	Sheep
2011	100	100	100	100	100	100
2012	121	105	104	104	105	99
2013	122	112	122	109	111	94
2014	131	114	118	108	120	72
2015	150	122	129	119	120	65
2016*	165	154	143	141	127	65

Livestock on organic farms
	Chickens	Mature dairy cattle	Goats	Bovines (total)	Pigs	Sheep
2011	100	100	100	100	100	100
2012	121	105	104	104	105	99
2013	122	112	122	109	111	94
2014	131	114	118	108	120	72
2015	150	122	129	119	120	65
2016*	165	154	143	141	127	65

Between 2011 and 2016, the number of organically reared chickens rose by nearly two-thirds to more than 3 million. This represents 3 percent of the total Dutch chicken population. The number of organic poultry farms grew by 24 percent over the same period. An increase was furthermore seen in organic goat (+43 percent) and pig breeding (+27 percent). Over the same period, however, the organic sheep flock declined (-35 percent).

Organic arable, horticultural and livestock farms
	Arable farming	Cattle	Horticulture	Chickens	Sheep	Goats	Pigs
2011	517	507	458	180	180	113	99
2012	559	529	467	206	177	117	116
2013	573	531	503	202	181	115	120
2014	554	513	508	204	170	113	119
2015	521	509	458	215	162	107	118
2016*	539	549	481	223	155	99	122

Organic arable, horticultural and livestock farms
	Arable farming	Cattle	Horticulture	Chickens	Sheep	Goats	Pigs
2011	517	507	458	180	180	113	99
2012	559	529	467	206	177	117	116
2013	573	531	503	202	181	115	120
2014	554	513	508	204	170	113	119
2015	521	509	458	215	162	107	118
2016*	539	549	481	223	155	99	122

More organic cattle breeding

Organic cattle farming also grew substantially between 2011 and 2016. In five years’ time, the size of the mature dairy cattle herd increased by over 50 percent. The total organic cattle herd increased to slightly under 70 thousand bovines, equivalent to 2 percent of the total cattle population in the Netherlands. The growth in organic cattle farming is further shown in the expanding acreage of organic pasture (by over 10 percent). The number of bovine animals in the transition phase towards organic farming has increased as well. Over two years’ time between 2014 and 2016, the bovine herd increased tenfold.

Agricultural area used for organic arable farming and horticulture
	Total	Pasture and green fodder	Arable farming	Horticulture
2011	47.42	35.17	10.26	1.99
2012	48.43	36.26	10.11	2.06
2013	49.39	36.36	10.84	2.19
2014	49.26	36.62	10.26	2.38
2015	50.38	37.45	10.31	2.61
2016*	52.04	38.82	10.42	2.8

Agricultural area used for organic arable farming and horticulture
	Total	Pasture and green fodder	Arable farming	Horticulture
2011	47.42	35.17	10.26	1.99
2012	48.43	36.26	10.11	2.06
2013	49.39	36.36	10.84	2.19
2014	49.26	36.62	10.26	2.38
2015	50.38	37.45	10.31	2.61
2016*	52.04	38.82	10.42	2.8

Larger area for organic agriculture

In 2016, there were 539 organically managed arable farms in the Netherlands, over 4 percent up from five years previously. These farms together occupied an area of over 10 thousand hectares, slightly larger (+2 percent) than in 2011. The number of organic horticultural farms went up as well. Organic open-field horticulture in particular recorded growth; the number of farms rose by 7 percent while the area used for open-field horticultural cultivation expanded by 43 percent. The number of organic greenhouse farmers, on the other hand, declined (3 percent) in spite of a growing area for greenhouse cultivation, also by around 3 percent.