Farms in the Netherlands: numbers and size, 1980-2002
The number of farms is falling steadily; the cultivated area per farm is rising considerably.
Number of farms
The number of farms fell from 300,000 in 1960 to just under 90,000 in 2002. Of those 90,000 farms in the Agriculture and horticulture sector, the majority (51,600) are livestock farms. The balance is made up of approximately 16,600 horticultural farms and approximately 12,800 arable farms. The numbers in all these categories have fallen since 1980.
Farm size
The area under cultivation per farm increased from 13.9 ha in 1980 to 21.8 ha per farm in 2002.
Number of jobs
Increasing mechanisation means that farm work can be carried out faster than ever and that the number of workers needed to do the same job is falling continually. The number of workers employed in agriculture and horticulture has fallen since 1960 by 50% to a total of 298,000 in 2002 (including the irregular employment of workers from outside the family).
