Facts and figures

But actually, this really isn't surprising. If policies have been developed affecting a particular sector, it's important to know whether the policies are having the desired effect. Because the agricultural sector is generally positive towards the policies affecting its parties, the idea of data collection has had broad support.

But figures alone only tell half the story. According to the figures, the number of agricultural businesses has decreased by an average of 3% each year over the last several decades. And Dutch consumers are spending an ever higher proportion of their disposable income on food. The figures also show that the total agricultural land area in the Netherlands is decreasing by about 0.3% annually and that companies throughout the agricultural chain are getting bigger. Further, figures show that supermarkets are pushing speciality stores aside. And participation in agricultural nature management is falling. This is all very interesting, but the figures alone offer no information about why these things are happening. That requires supplementary analyses and a deeper look by qualified researchers.

This was the motivation behind the first Agricultural Economic Report in 1972. The 2012 version is the forty-first edition. Over the course of the past decades, the Report has continued to develop in terms of the topics analysed and even the way it is published. For instance, this year it is available for the first time as an app. One thing that has remained constant for the past forty years, however, despite all the changes in the agricultural sector, is the need for insight into the reasons for those changes.

This edition examines whether and how the agricultural sector can contribute to sustainable water management. It also covers the fact that a number of new supermarket chains have come on the market and the fact that the consumption of organic agricultural products is continuing to grow. Figures showing that larger businesses tend to have larger incomes are explained, as are figures showing that scale increases and specialisation are ongoing trends in the agricultural sector.

The Agricultural Economic Report provides rapid insight into a number of topics. Not everything in the Report will be seen as equally positive by all readers, but that is to be expected. On behalf of all thirty-six contributing researchers, I hope that the Agricultural Economic Report will be read with as much interest as we have experienced in preparing it.

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• Agricultural exports growing, but income falling sharply