Arable farming and horticulture play an important role in the Dutch economy. The Netherlands is among the world's three largest exporters of agricultural products next to the United States and France. The Netherlands accounts for nearly a quarter of European vegetable exports. Germany and the United Kingdom are the largest buyers of Dutch produce. The largest markets for arable and vegetable products are Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

Arable farming
In 2004 the Netherlands had about 12,600 arable farms which employed nearly 26,500 people. The predominant arable crops are cereals (especially wheat), fodder crops, sugar beets, table potatoes and legumes. The total area under arable crops is 820,000 ha. Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel have the most arable farms. In recent years, rapeseed is being grown in the northern provinces and its oil is processed to fuel for cars and ships.

Organic farming
In 2004, the Netherlands had 1469 organic farms. Organic farming comprises 2.1% of the total agricultural area. Most organic arable and field vegetable production takes place in the province of Flevoland, where it makes up almost 8% of the area under arable and vegetable crops. In Europe, 3.4% or 5.6 million hectares of the total agricultural area is under organic production. 55% of the organic farms in Europe are located in Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and France.

Worldwide organic production
The total area under organic production worldwide is about 26 million hectares. Australia leads the way with 11.3 million hectares of organically managed farmland, followed by Argentina (2.8 million ha) and Italy (1.1 million ha).

EU protected indications
In 1992, the European Union (EU) introduced an assessment and protection system for geographical indications and traditional specialities. Protected indications for the Netherlands are Opperdoezer Ronde (a potato from the West-Friesian region Opperdoes), Boeren Leidse cheese, Kanter cheeses, Noord-Hollandse Edammer cheese and Noord-Hollandse Gouda cheese.