In 2020, there were in Belgium 35,996 agricultural holdings. This number is slightly lower than in 2019 (-0.3%). The decrease is slightly more significant in Flanders than in Wallonia, according to the final agricultural results of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
The agricultural area in Belgium is 1,367,082 ha. 34.8% of the agricultural area consists of permanent grassland. Cereal crops occupy 22.3% of the agricultural area and fodder crops 21.2%.
Overall, cereal crops decreased by 2.8% (- 8,769 ha). As a result of the poor weather conditions in the autumn 2019, less winter cereals were sown. Winter wheat declined by 6.6%, winter barley by 9.0% and triticale by 16.1%. The decrease for the three crops combined amounted to 17,372 ha. As a result of the wet autumn in 2019, more spring cereals were sown in 2020. Spring wheat increased by almost 76% and spring barley by 39.6%. However, their area is considerably smaller than the that of winter cereals. Spelt also increased in importance in 2020 (+18.7%).
Other crops increased or remained stable
The area of fodder crops increased by +1.6%, both in Wallonia (+3.6%) and to a lesser extent in Flanders (+0.6%). In Flanders, as of 2020, the field borders were again included under the heading of fallow land, causing a shift from the heading of fodder crops to that of fallow land. As a result, the fallow land heading in Flanders increased by 211.4%.
The area of industrial crops rose by 2.6% in 2020, almost exclusively due to the increase in the area of flax by some 3,600 ha (+24.2%). Fibre flax is on the rise thanks to industrial applications alongside those of textiles.
Sugar beet and rapeseed areas decreased by almost 2,100 ha. Chicory for inulin has been increasing since 2017 (+3.0% in 2020). The sharp increase in the area of medicinal and aromatic plants and herbs is due to the fact that from 2019 the area for kitchen herbs was moved from ‘other outdoor vegetables’ to this heading. Among the other oilseeds, the large increase (+67.2%) is mainly due to the sharp increase in sunflower seeds and soybeans.
The total area of potatoes has slightly decreased by 851 ha in 2020 (-0.9%). The decrease took place in Flanders (-1,513 ha), while the area in Wallonia increased slightly (+675 ha).
The area of dry pulses also continued to increase. In Belgium this area increased by 29.3% or 1,356 ha.
The total area of vegetables (open air and greenhouse) increased by 4.7% in 2020.
The area of strawberries in Belgium decreased by 2.1%, due to the decrease in strawberries grown outdoors (-11.8% in Flanders and -3.8% in Wallonia). By contrast, the area under glass and high cover rose by 12.0%. Cultivation under glass or high cover refers to all structures made of glass or plastic, soft or hard, heated or not, in which one can stand up.
There is a slight decrease in orchards in Belgium (-0.9%), with again a decrease in the area of apples (-4.2%) and a slight increase in the area of pears (+0.7%). The decline is due to the decrease in orchards in Flanders (-1.5%), which was compensated by an increase in Wallonia (+4.9%). Berries gained strongly in importance in both regions: +12.0% in Flanders and +28.8% in Wallonia. This was mainly due to the increase in the area for vines.
Flanders revised its cultivation codes for ornamental plant cultivation and tree nurseries from the single application. Cultivation codes were deleted and added. This has led to large fluctuations in the results for both ornamental plant cultivation and tree nurseries in the open air and in greenhouses. For this, we refer to the methodological note in the results table.
Cattle population decreases, pig and poultry populations increase
The cattle population decreased by 37,660 animals, or 1.6%. A decrease was observed in all age categories. For animals older than 2 years, there was an increase of 12.9% in the number of heifers for fattening. The number of dairy cows remained at the same level as in 2019, with an increase of 1.4% in Flanders and a decrease of 2.4% in Wallonia. The number of suckler cows decreased by 4.4%.
After a decrease in 2019, the pig population increased by 2.2% in 2020. There was an increase mainly in heavy fattening pigs, while the number of pigs for fattening between 20 and 50 kg fell sharply. Pig farmers kept their pigs longer due to low pig prices in the autumn 2020.
Poultry increases by 8.6% compared to 2019. The increase applies to all categories despite low market prices in the autumn 2020 for eggs and broilers. Sheep and goats were again surveyed in the agricultural survey in 2020. In November 2020, there were 110,115 sheep and 75,355 goats. This was an increase of 27.7% and 48.3% respectively compared to 2016.