On an average greenhouse vegetable company the income per unpaid work units (AWU) is expected to close just below zero in 2013. This represents a drop of about 45,000 from last year. This is evident from the annual estimates of LEI Wageningen UR, published through their new website agrimatie.nl.
Fluctuation in income from business is greatest in vegetable production
This is caused in part by the poor pricing of tomatoes and increased energy costs. The gloomy spring and hot summer of 2013 had a major influence as well.
Pepper Businesses have had a relatively good year, after years of poor pricing. In other sectors, cut flowers and pot and bedding plants, incomes declined less strongly and remain at a relatively high level. The pot and bedding companies remain the most profitable horticultural sector.
Energy costs have risen due to a higher purchase price of both electricity and gas. Use also increases slightly, as are costs for paid labour and employment by a third party. This increase is due to a combination of growth in business volume and increased labour costs. The financing, which had increased sharply last year, is expected to go down slightly due to a lower interest rate. The cost of tangible assets, mainly due to lower depreciation on plant and machinery, and the imputed costs are rising less rapidly than the total cost of ownership. However, the cost of tangible assets, which between 2005 and 2009 greatly increased by a lot of investments, are rising faster than energy by 5%-points. The share of labour costs, of total costs in that period, actually declined (-4%).
Average greenhouse vegetable company continues to grow
In 2005, the glasshouse acreage reached its peak with 10,500 ha. After 2011 however, the decline of appears to be continuing. In 2013, acreage dropped for the fourth consecutive year, according to the annual estimates of LEI Wageningen UR.
Compared to 2012, 2013 witnessed a 150 ha decrease in greenhouse acreage. Because the number of companies shows a stronger decline than the acreage, the average size of greenhouse companies increases. In the period 2000-2013, the average size has more than doubled, from about 1 ha to over 2 ha. The number of companies has halved over the same period, from over 11,000 to less than 5,000 companies.
Cultivation under glass consists mainly of greenhouse vegetables, cut flowers and houseplants. There have been some major shifts. Greenhouse vegetable companies grew in acreage from about 40 to about 50 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. Tomato acreage has increased considerably in recent years.
An average company with greenhouse vegetables spans some 3.2 hectares in 2013. Compared to 2012, the average company size increased by 5%.
Due to a decrease in the number of companies and an increase in greenhouses acreage, the average company increased with 0.15 ha compared to 2012. This growth has been going on for the last 12 years and concerns all vegetable crops. Tomatoes show the fastest development though. An average company growing tomatoes now has a size of nearly 5.5 ha. For pepper companies the development went slower because the acreage has declined in recent years. Even strawberry companies are maturing rapidly. An average company with strawberry cultivation has a size of 1.1 ha in 2013, whereas 10 years ago this was less than 0.5 ha.
