Number of dairy cows in the Netherlands 2000-2020
A stereotypical image of the Dutch countryside would quite likely consist of flat, green meadows filled with horses, sheep and of course the world-famous black-and-white cows. And there is some truth to each stereotype: there were an impressive 1.59 million cows in the Netherlands in 2020, or almost one-tenth of the country’s human population.
Scaling up in dairy farming
In 2020, just under 16,000 farms owned dairy cows, a considerable decrease in comparison to a decade ago, when there were still over 20,000 farms with dairy cows. In the same period however, the number of cows per farm increased significantly. Whereas in 2009 the average Dutch farm had 73 dairy cows, by 2020 this had grown to 101. So although the number of farms decreased, the remaining farms had more cows to take care of. And despite the fall in farms, the number of dairy cows in the Netherlands actually continued to grow almost year-on-year.
Dairy cows in the Benelux countries
The importance of the Netherlands in dairy farming becomes even more obvious when comparing the number of dairy cows in the country to the other Benelux countries, Belgium and Luxembourg. There were over 2.1 million dairy cows in the Benelux, but nearly three quarters of these cows were Dutch. In comparison, in Belgium there were just under 540,000 dairy cows in 2019.
Scaling up in dairy farming
In 2020, just under 16,000 farms owned dairy cows, a considerable decrease in comparison to a decade ago, when there were still over 20,000 farms with dairy cows. In the same period however, the number of cows per farm increased significantly. Whereas in 2009 the average Dutch farm had 73 dairy cows, by 2020 this had grown to 101. So although the number of farms decreased, the remaining farms had more cows to take care of. And despite the fall in farms, the number of dairy cows in the Netherlands actually continued to grow almost year-on-year.
Dairy cows in the Benelux countries
The importance of the Netherlands in dairy farming becomes even more obvious when comparing the number of dairy cows in the country to the other Benelux countries, Belgium and Luxembourg. There were over 2.1 million dairy cows in the Benelux, but nearly three quarters of these cows were Dutch. In comparison, in Belgium there were just under 540,000 dairy cows in 2019.
