Agriculture in The Netherlands

We all know that The Netherlands is famous for their cows (and cheese!), but how much do we know about their agriculture? The Netherlands is the third largest exporter of produce in the world, behind the United States and Brazil. Not bad for a country of only 41,850 square kilometers (16,160 square miles) – that’s less than 1% the size of the US! They export some €65 billion of produce each year, the biggest crops being wheat, tomatoes, apples and pears. This accounts for over 17% of all Dutch exports, and 10% of Dutch economy and employment. Not all of that produce is grown there, but as the Netherlands is a major trade hub it also moves product from other countries around the world.

As early as 5600BC, settlers lived along rivers and adopted agriculture techniques from neighbouring cultures. With the Bronze and Iron age, new implements were developed, furthering prosperity. By the 17^th century, the Dutch became major players on the global stage. More and more people moved to the small nation, which meant a shift in dairy farming to more produce.

By the 20^th century, The Netherlands not only became a leader in produce export, but also in agricultural innovation. The Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 instilled in the Dutch people a fierce focus to be self sufficient. The government strongly supports this with incentives for produce farmers. In recent years there has been some controversy around dairy farming. The government wants to reduce emissions drastically by 2030, which means fewer cows, but more produce.

Today, The Netherlands is not only known for being a major food supplier, but also for their food technology. This includes greenhouse farming, robotics, disease-resistant seeds, sustainability, and eco-friendly solutions.

In typical Dutch fashion, these innovators have more than risen to every challenge presented to them. Not enough land? We’ll make our own. Hotter summers? We’ll develop heartier seed varieties and better watering systems. Too many people to feed? We’ll figure out a way to produce twice as much food using half as many resources. And they excelled at each problem thrown at them.

Although Canada and the United States do not import much fresh produce from The Netherlands, they are huge importers of Dutch machinery, greenhouse components, and equipment. Since we can’t sample the delicious Dutch produce without taking a trip, we can still buy local and there’s a good chance some Dutch equipment was involved in growing it!