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Introduction After the Second World War there were big changes in the farming. People worked hard to rebuild the Dutch economy. For instance by increasing the agricultural production. If there's there is enough production there will be more to export. The extra income could be used to build up the industry. Because of the high volume of the agricultural production, the prices were relative low. So food was cheap. That was profitable for the industry, they didn't have to pay high wages. At the time there was a great demand for agricultural products, so the increase in production was profitable for the farmers too. But in 1953 when over-production threatened prices dropped. The farmers increased the production again, because they didn't want a lower income. This was necessary, because the industrial products that they needed, like farm machinery, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides had become more expensive. Many farms had to specialize: on agriculture, on fruit, dairy or stock farming. A lot of land changed owners. For the small, no specialized farms, there was just one way to keep up with the bigger farms; bio-industry. Farmers who couldn't keep up financially went bankrupt. The number of employees in this sector decreases strongly. But the number of animals in this sector increased. Cheaper machines replaced the more expansive employees. This was necessary to make the change from old style farm to bio-industry farm. The farmers wanted to make sure they got good prices. They made contracts with big concerns, which determine everything from start to finish. Stables, cattle, feed, slaughter, disinfectant, administrative help etc. The farmer gets a lot of help, but has become dependent. Theoretically, it isn't difficult to reduce the power of the big concerns by not buying bio-industry products. But the farmer is the first to suffer. And now a days, nobody wants to pay higher prices for their food. This is why the prices of food are almost the same as about 40 years ago, even though the prices of industrial products are rising. So what is being done to keep the prices so low? *Many animals on less land |
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