Country Specific General Introduction

2Production numbers

1. Agricultural systems

1. Geographical overview

, more detailed quantitative information can be found in annex I). The importance of the different subsectors is connected to the different regions. For instance, fruit production takes place mainly around Sint-Truiden while vegetable production is located mostly around Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Roeselare and Hoogstraten. Moreover, animal breeding is mostly centred in West-Flanders while ornamental plant production can be found around Ghent (Flemish Government, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries).

specialisation plant breeding	specialisation ornamentals incl. tree nurseries
breeding – vegetables	specialisation fruit
breeding – beef cattle	ornamentals – beef cattle
predominantly dairy cattle	arable crops – beef cattle
specialisation vegetables, incl. strawberries	vegetables – beef cattle
breeding – dairy cattle	urbanised

The figure below provides an overview of the share of agricultural land as part of the total land area per community in Flanders. It can be seen that agricultural land-intensive areas are mostly located in the western part of Flanders and gradually diminish towards the east of the region.

Figure : Share of agricultural land in total area per community, 2007 (Source: Department of agriculture and fisheries)

Figure provides an overview of the geographical spread of agriculture and horticulture in Wallonia.

The Walloon agriculture is characterized by production of major crops (cereals, industrial plants such as sugar beet, chicory, linseed,...), forage crops and livestock (mainly cattle) related to soil. Breeding and more specifically cattle dominates the agricultural sector.

The importance of the different subsectors is connected to the different regions. Cattle breeding are mainly located in the South of Wallonia, particularly in the province of Luxembourg. The major crops can be found mainly in the silty area. Dairy sector is concentrated in the Liège province while the pig production is concentrated in the provinces of Liège and Hainaut (SPW – DGARNE, 2011).

Walloon utilisable agriculture area (UAA) reached 740 885 ha of the national UAA (1,358,019 ha). It represents 44% of the total area in Wallonia, which is 1,684,430 ha.

	Specialisation arable crops		Combination meadow - grassland
	Specialisation horticulture		Multiple breeding – predominantly dairy cattle
	Cattle - specialisation dairy		Granivorous and dairy cattle
	Cattle – predominantly dairy		Arable crops and dairy cattle
	Cattle – specialisation breeding / beef cattle		Arable crops and cattle breeding / beef
	Cattle - predominantly breeding / beef cattle		Combination meadow - grassland and animals breeding
	Combination arable crops and horticulture

2. Production and productivity of crop and livestock systems

Figure : Estimation of production of main agricultural crops in tonnes, Flanders, 2005-2010 (Source: AMS on the basis of FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie)

Figure : Estimation of average yield of main agricultural crops in 100 kg/ha in Flanders, 2005-2010 (Source: AMS on the basis of FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie)

In 2010, around 35 million animals were registered in Flanders of which 27.28 million were poultry, 6.22 million pigs, 1.34 million cattle and 189,000 other animals (primarily sheep, horses and mink).

As of the ‘90s, the number of animals (cattle, pigs and poultry) started to decline due to a number of reasons, such as improved efficiency in the dairy sector, the manure policy, dioxin crisis, economic crisis etc. However, since 2008, livestock production and mainly poultry production, have been on the increase again due to expansion options created under the manure policy (since 2007).

Figure presents an overview of the livestock evolution in Flanders, numbers are adapted according to the livestock unit (LSU) conversion factors. Pig production is clearly the most important livestock subsector in Flanders, followed by bovine and poultry production.

Figure : Livestock evolution in Flanders in number of animals based on LSU, 2005-2010 (Source: AMS on the basis of FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie)

Figure presents an overview of the density of pig, bovine and poultry production in the different communities of Flanders. From the figure, it can be seen that pig production is mostly located in the western part of Flanders, while bovine production mostly take place in the north of the country and poultry production least in the communities around the federal capital, Brussels.

Density of the pig production (No of pigs per km²)

Density of the poultry production

(No of chickens per km²)

Density of the bovine production

(No of bovines per km²)

Figure : Density of different livestock types in Flemish communities in number of animals per km², 2007 (Source: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)

Figure provides an overview of the evolution of agricultural land use in Flanders. Land use for most crops has remained more or less stable over the past years, with fodder crops taking up the majority of land used for production. This is linked to the importance and size of the livestock sector.

Figure : Evolution of agricultural land use in Flanders, 2005 - 2010, in ha (Source: AMS on the basis of FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie)

It can be seen in Figure that the main crop produced in Wallonia is sugar beet, with an average yield of 3.4 million tons per year. The average yield of the main crops presented in Figure has remained more or less constant over the years, as is shown in Figure .

Figure : Estimation of production of main agricultural crops in Wallonia in tonnes (2005-2010). (Source: SPF-économie –DGSIE (ex-INS)).

Figure : Estimation of average yield of main agricultural crops in Wallonia in 100kg/ha (2005-2010). (Source: SPF-économie –DGSIE (ex-INS)).

In 2010, around 7 million animals were registered in Wallonia of which 5.249 million were poultry, 392,000 pigs, 1.289 million cattle and 143,800 other animals (primarily sheep, rabbit, horses and goat).

By the ‘90s, the number of animals (cattle, pigs and poultry) started to decline due to a number of reasons, such as improved efficiency in the dairy sector, dioxin crisis, economic crisis etc. However, since 2005, livestock production and mainly poultry and pigs production, have been on the increase.

Figure presents an overview of the livestock evolution in Wallonia and Table shows the part of the Walloon production for Belgian production.

Table : Walloon production livestock (% of the national production) (Source: Programme Wallon de Développement rural 2007-2013 – Septembre 2012)

Figure , Figure and Figure represent an overview of the importance of beef cattle, pigs and poultry in the different municipalities of Wallonia. From figures, it can be seen that bovine production is mostly located in the south of Wallonia. Pig production is mainly located in the provinces of Liège (East) and Hainaut (West of the country) and poultry in Hainaut.

Figure : Importance of beef cattle in Walloon communities in % of the total agricultural production, 2010 (Source: Recensement agricole de mai 2010)

Figure : Number of pigs per Walloon municipalities, 2006 (Source: CPDT - INS, 2007)

Figure : Number of poultry per Walloon municipalities, 2006 (Source: CPDT - INS, 2007)

Figure provides an overview of the evolution of agricultural land use in Wallonia. The Walloon agriculture is characterized by production of large crops (cereals, industrial plants), fodder crops and animals production (mainly cattle). The land use in Wallonia reflects this orientation: arable farming covers 54% of the used agricultural area and permanent pasture 45.6%.
Figure : Evolution of agricultural land use in Wallonia (2005-2010) (Source: DGSIE (ex-INS) - Recensements et enquêtes agricoles)

Figure shows that utilized agricultural area is greater in the north of the Sambre and Meuse furrow, where the soil and climatic conditions are more favourable for crops. We find the majority of cereals and industrial crops. Further in the south grasslands (mostly permanent) dominate the area. (Cellule Etat de l’environnement wallon, 2010).

Figure : Use of agricultural land

Agriculture takes up half of the land use in Belgium with 50.3% out of a total area of 30,527.93 km². However, each year this number decreases in favour of area used for construction. Together with the decrease in land use, the number of agricultural companies in Belgium decreases every year, it is faster than the decrease in land use. This means that these companies grow larger with time. The average size of an agricultural company has increased by 98% from 25.08 ha in 1990 to 51.1 ha in 2010 for Wallonia. About 27.1 % of these companies were specialised in beef cattle , 23.1 % in crop production, 13.4 % in dairy cattle and 13.4 % in mixed cattle “dairy and beef” (SPW – DGARNE, 2011).

3. Socio-economic analysis

). Livestock took up the highest final value with 3,189 million euro, followed by the horticulture sector at 1,405 million euro and arable production at 481 million euro. The livestock sector includes cattle, pig and poultry production as well as the production of dairy products. Of all subsectors, pig production has the highest value.

Figure : Evolution of final production value, 2005-2011, in million Euro (Flanders) (Source: AMS) (*: preliminary data)

In that same year, the Flemish crop production and horticulture sector realised a production value of 4,5 billion euro, a Gross Added Value of 1,1 billion euro and a Net Added Value of 0,9 billion euro. The GDP in Belgium for 2011 amounted to 355,102 million euro of which agriculture, forestry, fisheries accounted for 0.58% (FOD economie, K.M.O., middenstand en energie, Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie, Kerncijfers landbouw 2012).

The Flemish gross meat production can be estimated based on the national production numbers of the Directorate General Statistics and Economic Information (Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economisch Informatie, ADSEI). In 2007, Flanders produced around 1.4 million ton carcass weight, which contributes 85% to the national meat production. The Flemish meat production constitutes of 69% pork, 16% poultry and 12% beef. Moreover, statistics from the Department Agriculture and Fisheries show that during the milking campaign 2009/10, 1,934 million litre of milk was delivered. Additionally, based on national production numbers from ADSEI, 1,893 million eggs were produced in 2008.

The final production value of agriculture in Wallonia amounted to 1,935.1 million euro in 2010 (Figure ). Livestock took up the highest final value with 1,015.4 million euro (52,5%), followed by the crop production at 748.2 million euro (38.7%) and the horticulture sector at 171.5 million euro (8.9%). The livestock sector includes cattle, pig and poultry production as well as the production of dairy products. Of all subsectors, beef cattle production has the highest value with 473.2 million euro (SPW – DGARNE, 2011).

Wallonia plays an important role in the fields of beets and cereals. Its role is also important for beef and milk. For horticultural crops, pigs, poultry and eggs, the proportion is small but growing.

In 2009, the Gross Added Value of Walloon agriculture was 590.5 million euro (Source: National Bank of Belgium). The Gross Added Value of all sectors of Wallonia, expressed at market prices, is estimated at 71,325.1 million euro in 2009. The relative contribution of “Agriculture, forestry and fishing” is estimated at 0.8%.

The GDP in Belgium for 2011 amounted to 355.102 million euro of which agriculture, forestry, fisheries accounted for 0.58% (FOD economie, K.M.O., middenstand en energie, Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie, Kerncijfers landbouw 2012).

To express the beef production, the term "gross indigenous production" is used. It is equal to the number of slaughtering (net production) an increased in exports of living animals and decreased imports of living animals. For 2010, in Wallonia, bovine’s meat represented 70% of the Belgian gross indigenous production and calves, 2%. The Walloon gross indigenous production of beef can be estimated at 179,000 tonnes (carcass weight equivalent).

For the dairy production in 2010, Wallonia produced 1.276 billion liters of the 3.352 billion liters of quota delivery for Belgium (38%). For the same year, the net production (slaughters) of pigs in Wallonia amounted to 148,500 tonnes (13.7% of Belgium Net production).

According to the agricultural surveys, 1.079 million eggs were produced in 2011 (SPW – DGARNE, 2011).

According to Eurostat, selling prices (excluding taxes) for different animal products are the following:

• 
  For calves (2011): 143.99 euro per 100 kg live weight
  
• 
  For pigs (2007): 99.86 euro per 100 kg live weight
  
• 
  For chickens (2011): 94.61 euro per 100 kg live weight
  
• 
  For fresh eggs (2011): 4.11 euro per 100 eggs
  
• 
  For raw cow’s milk (2011): 33.06 euro per 100 kg of milk
  

• 
  For a suckler cow: 1,951 euro per piece or 2.66 euro per kg live weight
  
• 
  For a heifer above one year of age: 1,862 euro per piece or 3.18 euro per kg live weight
  
• 
  For a bull above one year of age: 2,190 euro per piece or 3.18 euro per kg live weight
  

Figure provides an overview of the employment in the agricultural and horticultural sector in Flanders, divided over employment of family and non-family. The figure clearly demonstrates a downward trend in employment numbers.

Figure : Employment in the agricultural and horticultural sector in Flanders, 2005-2010 (Source: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)

Together with the decrease in number of people employed, the number of agricultural companies in Belgium decreases yearly. This decrease is quicker than the decrease in land use, meaning that agricultural companies grow larger with time. The average size of an agricultural company in Flanders has increased by 40% from 15.07 ha in 1999 to 21.1 ha in 2010. About 52% of all companies were specialised livestock companies, 17% were specialised in horticulture and 17% in crop production (LARA 2010).

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