> The shift over years has been that the second strategy produces more crops with lower expenses than the first, and is taking over to the extent it is almost i

> The shift over years has been that the second strategy produces more crops with lower expenses than the first, and is taking over to the extent it is almost impossible to run a small farm without going bankrupt. In the Netherlands there's renewed attention to stimulate small-scale farming and agriculture for various reasons. For many years large supermarkets have been increasing pressure on the entire supply chain to produce as cheap as possible. It has its effect on all products, where more processed foods gradually replace 'genuine' produce. The larger margins are at the supermarket top of the chain, while farmers are the ones getting squeezed the most. To the extent that they are almost forced to scale up, but even then may find it hard to earn a decent living. Now Netherlands farm industry is producing an insane amount of meat and vegetables. A tiny country and one of the larger exporters in the world. All this has had very detrimental effects on the environment. Our 'Green Heart' (the region circled by Dutch big cities) is basically a wasteland with little insects or birds, soil compaction. Only fertilizer and pesticides keep it all going. And we have a nitrate problem, caused by both farming and traffic, that is threatening the sparse natural reserves that are patched between argicultural lands. All this is entirely unsustainable. It is also dangerous. A new pandemic may well find its source in the intensive livestock sector with its mega-stables. As a result there's now a lot of political attention to doing things differently, scaling down farms, re-introducing old farming practices and experimenting with new ones. Small-scale farming is beginning to look more attractive again, and there's a growing consumer-base ready to pay a somewhat higher price for that as well.