More and More Dairy Cows in the Netherlands No Longer See Grass. In 2024, Almost A Third of All Cows Were Permanently Kept in Stables. Only organic cows are more likely to graze outside for longer periods.
In 2024, There Were 1.5 Million Dairy Cows in the Netherlands. In that year, 31 percent of all dairy cows, more than 460,000 animals, Were Kept in Stables Year-Round. That is 12 percent more than a year earlier, accordance to new figures from the CBS (Statistics Netherlands).
The Number of Dairy Farms That Never Let Cows Outside also Grew Significantly. Currently, One in Five Dairy Farmers Keeps The Animals Permanently Indoors.
Organic Dairy Cows Account for 3 percent of the Total Number of Cows. Accordance to regulations, They are only allowed to stay indoors in Bad Weather, Ground, or illness law. Last year, they spent an Average of 202 days in the pasture, more than fifty days longer than other cows. Organic cows also spend more time outside day and night and graze for more hours per day.
The CBS Figures Show That in Provinces Such as North and South Holland and Utrecht, The Cows from Most Farms also Go Outside, While in Flevoland, Less Than Half of the Dairy Cows Ever See The Pasture.