How much milk does a cow produce?

An average Dutch cow produced just over 2,500 litres of milk a year around 1910. By 1934/1938 this had already increased to 3,400 litres. Milk yields have continued to increase. Today, a dairy cow produces an average of nearly 8,900 litres (9,200 kilograms) of milk a year.

In the 1950s, Dutch cows produced more milk than other cows in Europe. Only Danish and Belgian cows had comparable yields. West German cows produced 1,400 kilograms of milk less per year. Cows in France even produced only half as much as Dutch cows. In Italy and Austria they produced even less. One of the reasons Dutch cows were so productive was that Dutch dairy farmers were continually innovating. Better housing, new feeding methods, and selective breeding, for example. As a result, milk yields of Dutch dairy cattle have increased almost constantly in the last century.

Productive arable land

In more general terms, too, Dutch farmers were more productive than those in other countries in western Europe around 1950. Yields of wheat and potatoes per hectare, for example, were also much higher in the period 1946/1950.

The success of the Dutch agricultural sector was based on permanent changes in how farming was organised introduced following the agricultural crisis at the end of the nineteenth century. In the years after the crisis, more and more farmers started to work together in cooperatives. They also used more artificial fertilisers. Around 1930, Dutch farmers used relatively more artificial fertilisers than any other country in the world. High-quality research, education and information campaigns in the area of agriculture started early on in the Netherlands.

The questions

1. What keeps people from eating healthier?
2. What is working people’s income?
3. How much of the energy we consume is renewable?
4. What percentage wears glasses?
5. How are the dragonflies and butterflies doing?
6. How many housing units are there?
7. How does home burglary affect people?
8. In what occupations do most people work from home?
9. How much more expensive did food get?
10. How many babies were born to unmarried mothers?
11. From which countries do most immigrants come?
12. How many centenarians are there?
13. How do fathers and mothers divide work and care?
14. How many cars are there?
15. How much milk does a cow produce?
16. What portion of income went to food in 1936?
17. How many pigs were there in 1910?
18. How many cattle and pigs in the Netherlands?
19. What do we import from China?
20. What type of shop is seen less and less?
21. How many nights are spent in Dutch hotels?
22. How often do older people have contact with neighbours?
23. How many adults comply with the physical activity guidelines?
24. Where do international students in the Netherlands come from?
25. What are the major religions?
26. How many litres of water do we use per day?
27. How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
28. How many inhabitants in the Netherlands??
29. Where can we ride our bikes?
30. At what age do workers retire?
31. Which day has the most birthdays?
32. How many people have a student debt?
33. How does CBS handle your privacy?