Valkenier, Kirsten (2024) The future of farming. Effects of the agricultural transition on the young Dutch farmer. Bachelor thesis.
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Abstract
The Netherlands aims to move towards a circular agriculture practice; the ‘Agricultural Transition’. Generally this differs greatly from the current business models and methods of farming, thus requiring radical changes from the farmers and ensuing great economic and social impact on them. 11% of current farmers is under 40 years of age, while over double this percentage are past retirement age. Combined with only 41% of all farmers having a successor, aging is an upcoming challenge in the agricultural sector. While young farmers are important for the future of farming, little research was conducted on young Dutch farmers specifically. This research looks at the following research question: “How does the agricultural transition influence the future prospective on farming of young (prospective) farmers in The Netherlands?” A survey was conducted amongst young (prospective) farmers, to learn about their views on the agricultural transition and aspects that influence their decision whether or not to continue farming. Following a quantitative approach, results show that how people feel about the agricultural transition is influenced by variables such as gender, having grown up on a farm, economic worry and seeing a future towards nature inclusive farming. A spatial distribution was also visible among farmer’s responses, with more ‘very negative’ answers in areas with higher agricultural land use. Respondents stated that an important factor during their decision whether or not to continue farming is the love for the profession. The research shows that aspects of the agricultural transition and the uncertainty of the directions of this transition negatively influence young farmer’s future prospectives, however no direct link between aspects of the agricultural transition and generational renewal was found. Further research would be interesting into specific aspects that motivate young farmers to farm or not, the effect of gender(roles) on how policy implementation is experienced among farmers on a family farm and if there is a difference, as well as possible impact of Natura2000 on farms during the agricultural transition.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Degree programme: | Human Geography and Planning |
| Supervisor: | Haartsen, T. |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Feb 2024 08:57 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Feb 2024 08:57 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4464 |
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