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The report shows that the number of farms and workers are continuing to decline and that the remaining farms are becoming bigger.
The reference scenario assumes the continuation of the derogation (exemption) granted by the European Commission to the Netherlands with regard to the Nitrate Directive. As a result, the Netherlands can apply 250 kg of animal manure per hectare of grassland instead of 170 kg. The question is: what might happen if the Netherlands is not granted derogation? If the derogation is no longer granted, manure disposal costs will rise, meaning that the cattle population will decline. This will particularly affect the number of dairy cows (around -5%), fattening pigs (-5%) and breeding sows (-2%).
http://www.wur.nl/NR/rdonlyres/C95616EB-941E-4391-B00B-A13E2EBCF0EC/91097/LE0600809_05_230609.pdf
