Dairy cow population down slightly in 2024

On 1 April 2024, there were 3.77 million cattle in the Netherlands, 1.9 percent fewer than the previous year. A total of 41 percent were dairy cows. The municipalities of Sûdwest-Fryslân and De Fryske Marren are home to the highest numbers of dairy cows: 65 thousand and 34 thousand, respectively. The number of young stock, meanwhile, rose by 2.5 percent to 967 thousand last year.

Compared to 2017, there were 7.8 percent fewer cattle in 2024, the year when the phosphate reduction plan came into force in the Dutch dairy farming sector. Under this plan, farmers have had to reduce the size of their dairy herds, bringing an end to rising numbers of cattle. The cattle population subsequently fell to below 4 million. After a slight increase a few years later, this decline appears to have resumed in 2024.

Decline in number of dairy farms

Slight decrease in number of veal calves

The population of veal calves fell by 1.7 percent to slightly over 1 million in 2024, compared to 2023. Compared to 2017, however, the population of veal calves has increased by around 5 percent.

Almost half of the Netherlands’ veal calves (466 thousand) are located in the province of Gelderland. There, the population of veal calves has grown by 8 percent in the last five years. The most veal calves are found in the municipalities of Ede (125 thousand) and Barneveld (118 thousand).

Pig numbers fall slightly once again

In 2024, the Netherlands’ pig population decreased by 2.6 percent, year on year, to a total of 10.6 million animals. The pig population has seen declines since 2020, partly as a result of a buy-out scheme for livestock farmers and the Subsidy Scheme for the Remediation of Pig Farms (SRV).

The number of agricultural farms that rear pigs fell by 3.5 percent compared to 2023, to just under 3 thousand. Over the past seven years, the average number of pigs per farm has grown by nearly 19 percent, to 3.4 thousand. This was mainly because more smaller farms have ceased rearing pigs over the last few years.

Nearly half of the Netherlands’ pig population is located in the province of Noord-Brabant. But the number of farms with pigs in Noord-Brabant has fallen by a third over the last seven years. The decline in the total pig population has been slower, at almost 18 percent. In 2024, Land van Cuijk (646 thousand) and Venray (518 thousand) were the municipalities with the largest pig populations.

Fewer goats and sheep

The number of dairy goats fell by 3 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, to just under 475 thousand. The Netherlands’ goat population has grown by 26 percent compared with seven years ago. Over half of dairy goats were found in the provinces of Noord-Brabant (137 thousand) and Gelderland (118 thousand) this year.

In Noord-Brabant, the dairy goat herd declined by 4 percent in 2024, year on year. In Gelderland, meanwhile, the population grew by more than 1 percent. Since 2017, the population of dairy goats has grown by 17 percent in Noord-Brabant and by 32 percent in Gelderland.

The number of sheep fell by almost 13 percent compared to 2023, to 732 thousand animals. This was due to the blue tongue virus, which has has been prevalent since September 2023 and has affected sheep in particular. The fall in sheep numbers was greatest in the provinces of Utrecht (more than 27 percent), Noord-Holland (21 percent) and Flevoland (20 percent).