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Agriculture

Flat landscapes, fertile soil, and a moderate climate - the Niederrhein region was made for agriculture, livestock breeding and horticulture. A flourishing sectoral mix of producers, processors and marketers has found a modern balance between ecologically sound agriculture, healthy products and successful business here.

Around 4,600 agricultural holdings, mostly small and medium-sized family farms, cultivate almost 200,000 hectares of land in the Niederrhein region. About two thirds of the farms have cattle for milk production and the fattening of livestock.


In the fields and meadows, fodder for animal production as well as potatoes, sugar beets and various types of cabbage grow, including the white cabbage called “Kappes”, often used for Sauerkraut. In spring the region’s famous asparagus sprouts here.

The agricultural businesses also include themore than 800 professional horticultural enterprisesthat grow all sorts of vegetables, fruit and ornamental plants in the Niederrhein region, sometimes in greenhouses, to supply the region with fresh goods throughout the year. There are also several thousand small businesses not included in the statistics that contribute to the enormous significance of horticulture in the Niederrhein agribusiness landscape.

The most important hub between horticulturists and traders is the internationally active marketing cooperative Landgard, which is owned by the producers themselves. Its headquarters in Straelenlies close to the Dutch border and thus in the middle of the largest continuous horticultural region in Europe. This is where Germany’s auctioning of cut and potted flowers with the highest revenue takes place. Fruit and vegetables from the region also find their way to processors, wholesale and consumers via Langard.

 

Any products that don’t leave the Niederrhein region fresh and in the hands of logistics specialists are processed locallywith about 12,000 employees, for example as deep-frozen foods at Bofrost in Straelen. The European market leader supplies around 2.7 million households in Germany alone with freshly harvested fruit and vegetables as well as ready-made and ready-to-eat meals n its sales vans.

Many other processed products, for example salads from Bonduelle, cucumbers from Kühne, Sauerkraut from Leuchtenberg or mayonnaise from Thomy, are other processing end-products. There’s plenty for those with a sweet tooth too. They can choose from biscuits from DeBeukelar, licorice from Katjes, Rhine Apple Kraut from Koppers and chocolate bars from Mars, to name a few.

The Niederrhein region’s natural treasures are converted into liquids locally in breweries such as Oettinger, Inbev and Germany’s oldest Altbier brewery Bolten, at fruit juice producers such as Krings, and liqueur manufacturers such as Underberg. Finally, the mills, which have settled primarily at the port of Neuss, for example Sels, Thywissen and Werhahn, process the harvested crops into flour, oil, fats and animal fodder.

The universities, research, consultancy and training institutions in the region make an important contribution to ensuring that the Niederrhein region continues to evolve into one of the most competitive agroibusiness and food regions in Europe, and one of the most innovative along the entire value chain.