The Netherlands possesses the most efficient agricultural sector in the European Union: with only 1.6% of its active population, this small country produces 8% of the EU’s agricultural output, and rivals with France at the international level for second place behind the USA among agro-exporting countries. This high performance originates in Dutch agricultural history, since the coastal regions of the country have been at the forefront of agricultural development in Western Europe for more (...)

The inception of the modern agricultural policy of capitalist European countries is found in mid-18th century Denmark under the aegis of an absolute monarchy and supported by bourgeois merchants. Danish agriculture at this time was dominated by feudal landowners who ran an extremely oppressive system of serfdom. The rudimentary method of traditional collective crop rotation over a three year cycle, heavy labour, and burdensome taxes kept the peasants in a state of misery. "Upon the (...)