Globally, only Bangladesh uses a higher percentage. 22% of Danish land is used for production of white meat (pig and poultry). 15% is used for production of red meat and milk (cattle, horses and sheep). 18% is used for cereals (wheat, rye, oats, barley, rapeseed) meant for oil and other productions, and 7% is used for organic farming, mainly organic beef and milk. Only 14% of Denmark’s land is used for villages, towns, cities and infrastructure.
- There are 32,000 farms in Denmark with 73,000 employees. If you look at the entire food industry, there are 112,000 employees (3.9% of total employment). 25% of the workers are internationals.
- Agriculture exports are worth 16 billion DKK yearly, while the entire food industry exports are worth 101 billion DKK yearly (11.1% of total exports).
- Agriculture contributes to 2% of Denmark’s GDP. 100 years ago it accounted for 20% of GDP.
- Denmark is the country with the highest ratio of pigs to humans. We have 13.4 million pigs – more than two pigs per person.
Who or what pays the price for being such an agriculturally intensive country? Biodiversity. We have 35,000 species of plants, animals, and mushrooms, of which 95% are in strong or moderate danger of extinction. In the European Union, only Belgium has a worse situation.
