The Dutch Royal visit to Ireland this week brings together two of the agricultural exporting powerhouses of Europe. The Netherlands is Europe’s top exporter of agricultural produce with sales of €90bn in 2018, of which €45bn was manufactured in the Netherlands, the remainder being traded produce. Irish food and drink exports in 2018 amounted to €12bn.

The main exports from the Netherlands in 2018 were: floriculture products (€9.2bn), dairy and eggs (€8.5bn), meat (€8.1bn), vegetables (€6.6bn) and fruit (€6bn). Germany is the main export market for the Netherlands at €22.8bn followed by Belgium on €10.2bn, with the UK third at €8bn.

Smart farming

Dutch agriculture is among the most productive in the world, and ahead of the Royal visit the Irish farmers Journal had the opportunity to visit the farm of Anton Stockman, a dairy farmer who takes part in JoinData, a data sharing cooperative with the ambition to maximise the performance of farmer members. The farmer remains in control of his data which connects with on-farm equipment and third party (app providers), but only with the farmer’s authorisation.

The objective is that data from every aspect of the farm business is analysed in order to drive maximum performance and efficiency.

Anton Stockman has farmed on his present farm since 1978, when he partnered with his father in milking 30 cows, housed in loose barns. The farm is now 160ha all owned and carries 280 cows. The farm has always been technology driven – having introduced robots for milking 22 years ago.

The objective of the farm was to sustain two incomes and that involved progressive expansion, initially to 60 cows and then doubling again to 120 cows. Milk is supplied to FrieslandCampina, who pay a 1.5c/l premium for non-GMO milk and up to 3c/l premium for environmentally friendly produced milk.

FrieslandCampina are also participants in the JoinData project and enjoy farmer trust, being a farmer-owned cooperative. Production per cow is now 11,000l on the farm, double what it was in 1978.

Technology is driving maximum farm efficiency, but further expansion is frustrated by the cost of acquiring a phosphorous quota at €6,000 per cow. The current investment project on the farm is in new silage holding facilities, with a separation of surface water runoff and silage effluent. Cows at this time of year have access to the shed and milking robots when they choose, though they are confined in the shed for five or six months each year due to weather.

Laser bird control

Dutch agriculture is amongst the most high-tec in the world and where problems arise, they look to technology for a solution.

Exposure to the North Sea means a proliferation of birds, which have the potential to do serious damage to high-value horticultural crops, particularly soft fruit and berries. A solution has been developed using laser technology, cameras and solar power.

How it works

Work began by the bird control group in 2012 and the first prototype was a manual hand held laser which resembled a supersized torch.

This has been superseded by an automated system, whereby the camera detects the birds and a laser beam is triggered in the direction of the birds, which gives them the impression of a physical presence and the birds disperse.

Where it can be used

The equipment has a use anywhere flocks of wild birds are a problem. Dublin airport was the first airport to adopt the technology and it is now in use at Schiphol and Frankfurt airports as well. Since its first commercial adoption in 2013, the equipment is now used in eighty countries and has over 6,000 users worldwide, many of which are in farming.

Soft fruit and berries are particularly susceptible to attack from birds, but the technology is also being used for grain crops where birds are a problem.

Other uses for the equipment are in warehousing and food processing sites, which attract flocks of birds in search of food.

The equipment isn’t cheap, costing approximately €10,000 to purchase outright, though where there is a seasonal demand the company is amenable to a short term hire or leasing arrangement.

Irish trade with the Netherlands

The Netherlands is a key export market for Irish food and drink, with strong growth in export value year-on-year. Irish exports to the Netherlands grew by 10% to more than €968m in 2018. Irish beef exports represented €200m of these sales in 2018 and in volume was 54,000t carcase weight equivalent (cwe). This was an increase in volume of over 5,500t cwe on 2017 exports and an increase in value of 4% on 2017, making the Netherlands the second largest market for Irish beef, after the UK. Irish beef is currently sold in 95% of local Dutch retail chains and is widely available in the catering and food service sector. Animal welfare has become an increasing concern in the Dutch market with high visibility of welfare issues in the food chain driven on by NGOs, the media and public elected representatives. Bord Bia has been working on developing recognition for the high welfare status of Irish cattle raised on a pasture-based system and under the requirements of the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme in a programme of trade and consumer initiatives.

Forequarter preferred

The Dutch market is traditionally a forequarter market. Over half of all Irish beef sales are of forequarter cuts and over half of these are through supermarket outlets. Round cuts of beef from the hindquarter, predominantly sold in the form of frying steak cuts like biefstuk, are the next most popular category and sales here are divided between retail, food service and manufacturing.

It is important to stress that the Netherlands has a particular relevance in its demand for QA prime forequarter beef from prime cattle. With our strong position in the higher value retail and foodservice trade this represents a highly important outlet in terms of providing carcase balance on our higher value prime cattle produced under the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme.

Promotion of Irish beef

Bord Bia’s beef promotion campaign in the Netherlands is focused on activities to increase awareness of quality forequarter Irish beef amongst Dutch consumers with the aim to drive preference to purchase in retail stores.

These include masterclasses with star chefs promoting the use of Irish beef in year-round stews and using Irish beef throughout the BBQ season.

Veal production in the Netherlands

On the back of a significant dairy herd, the Dutch have developed a highly efficient veal production industry, which forms an integral part of their agricultural sector. In addition to a domestic supply of over 700,000 Dutch-born calves, approximately 800,000 calves are imported annually.

Veal production

The majority of veal farms operate on a contract basis in conjunction with a processor. In a similar system to the poultry industry, veal producers are usually provided with the calf and feed inputs and receive a fee for their facilities and management, in line with achieving pre-agreed targets. The industry is highly export-focused, with over 90% of production destined for export, and key markets include Italy, Germany and France. International markets such as China and Japan are also becoming increasingly important.

There are two main categories: traditional white veal (mainly milk-fed, under-eight months) accounts for approximately 60% of production, while the remainder is made up of rosé veal (mainly grain-fed, generally aged 10-11 months).

Irish calf exports

Ireland was the third-largest supplier of calves to the Netherlands in 2018, at 49,000 head, behind Germany (550,000) and Belgium (120,000). For the first five months of this year, exports of Irish calves to the Dutch market have risen by 80%, to over 80,000 head. Bord Bia supports the live export trade to the Netherlands with an annual advertising campaign in the Dutch farming press, targeting veal finishers as well as liaising with representative bodies within the veal industry.