Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles BELGIUM by Alain Peeters The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of FAO. All rights reserved. FAO encourages the reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Non-commercial uses will be authorized free of charge, upon request. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes, including educational purposes, may incur fees. Applications for permission to reproduce or disseminate FAO copyright materials, and all queries concerning rights and licences, should be addressed by e-mail to [email protected] or to the Chief, Publishing Policy and Support Branch, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy. © FAO 2010 3 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 5 Country location 5 2. SOILS AND TOPOGRAPHY 8 Topography and geology 8 Soil types 10 3. CLIMATE AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES 11 Climate 11 Geographical regions 13 Agro-ecological regions 14 Forests 22 4. RUMINANT LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 23 Recent history and context 23 The livestock sector 25 Dairy production 27 Beef production 28 Sheep and other ruminants 29 Organic farming and livestock 30 Veterinary and animal health problems 31 5. THE PASTURE RESOURCE 33 Crop and grassland production 33 Forage production systems 34 Pastures and forage crops 35 Description of the main permanent grassland and rangeland types 36 Temporary pastures 37 Legumes in pasture swards 43 Pasture management and forage conservation 44 Temporary or permanent pastures 44 Fertilization 45 Production 46 Grazing systems 46 Forage conservation 47 Herbage seed production 48 Integration of forage resource utilization with environmental objectives and food quality issues 49 6. OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF PASTURE RESOURCES 52 7. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS 55 8. REFERENCES 57 9. CONTACTS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 61 Short note about the author 61 Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profile 5 1. INTRODUCTION Country location Belgium is in the northwest of Europe, between 51° 30’ and 49° 30’ N, and 2° 33’ and 6° 24’ E. It borders the Netherlands to the north, Germany and Luxemburg to the east, France to the south and the North Sea to the west (Figure 1). It has a land area of 30 528 km2 and is traversed by two main rivers, flowing north– south: the Scheldt and the Meuse. Both rise in France and flow into the North Sea in the Netherlands. For administrative purposes, the country is divided into three regions, ten provinces and 589 municipalities (Figure 2). Language, communities, gov- ernment, administration and economy. Belgium is a constitu- tional monarchy, established in 1830. Its structure and functions have been changed by a series of constitutional reforms (in Figure 1. Map of Belgium showing the main towns and borders with surrounding countries and the North Sea coast 1970, 1980, 1988–89, 1993 and Source: World Factbook, 2009. 2001) into a federal State of three regions, the Flemish, the Walloon and Brussels-Capital, which have authority over socio-economic matters such as economy, envi- ronment and agriculture. The Federal Government is respon- sible for topics such as justice, social security, fiscal affairs and national defence. Dutch, French and German are the three official languages. Dutch is spoken by about 6 000 000 Flemish people, mainly in Flanders. French is spoken by about 4 000 000 mainly in Wallonie and in Brussels. German is used by a community of about 74 000 (in 2007) (FPS Economy, 2008), in the east of the Walloon Region. The Flemish and the Figure 2. Administrative map Walloon Regions are officially Source: IGN, 2007. 6 Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profile unilingual and the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual. The vast majority of the inhabitants of Brussels speak French (Belgian Federal Government, 2008). The Belgian State is a pioneer member of the European Union. With the Netherlands and Luxemburg, it created Benelux in 1944, a core number of States that coordinated several aspects of their socio- economic policies before the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957. Its currency is the euro. Belgium had a gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 of €319 billion (FPS Economy, 2008), which is supported by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Approximately 83% of Belgian companies have less than ten employees and 97% of the companies employ less than 50 people. SMEs account for over 70% of the GDP (FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, 2006). Population. In January 2008, the population comprised 10 666 866 people (Flanders 6 161 600, Wallonie 3 456 775 and Brussels 1 048 491). The population increased at a rate of 0.34% between 1960 and 2008, and was higher after 1989. Three-quarters of this increase is explained by the migration balance and one- quarter by natural growth (FPS Economy – Directorate-General Statistics and Economic Information [DGSEI] Press Release, 28 August 2008). Belgium is one of the most densely populated countries (about 350 inhabitants/km² in 2007) in the world (FPS Economy, 2008). However, the Flemish Region is twice as populous as the Walloon Region. The lowest density is in the Province of Luxemburg (about 60 inhabitants/km²) (Table 1). [Editors note : according to the World Factbook the population estimate for July 2009 was 10 414 336 with an estimated growth rate of 0.094%]. Belgium is very urbanized, with 15 urban areas of more than 80 000 inhabitants, comprising about 53% of the total population (FPS Economy – DGSEI, 2009). Land area and land structure. Table 1. Land area, population and population density in Agriculture occupies almost 60% January 2005 of the land, woodland about 20% Name Land Population Population area (inhabitants) density and urban areas, including residen- (km²) (inhabitants/km²) tial, industrial and green areas as Belgium 30 528 10 445 852 342 well as roads and railways, about Flemish Region 13 522 6 043 161 447 Walloon Region 16 844 3 395 942 202 20% (Table 2). There has been a Brussels-Capital Region 161 1 006 749 6 238 continuous decrease in the agricul- Province of Luxemburg 4 440 256 004 58 tural area (AA) and increase of urban Province of Namur 3 666 455 863 124 areas since the nineteenth century, Province of Liège 3 862 1 034 024 268 when many semi-natural areas were Province of Walloon Brabant 1 091 363 776 334 planted with exotic trees (Picea spp., Province of Limburg 2 422 809 942 334 Province of Hainaut 3 786 1 286 275 340 Pinus spp., Populus spp.). The per- Province of West Flanders 3 144 1 138 503 362 manent grassland area increased Province of East Flanders 2 982 1 380 072 463 considerably in the second half of Province of Flemish Brabant 2 106 1 037 786 493 the nineteenth century, but decreased Province of Antwerp 2 867 1 676 858 585 slightly after the 1970s. In 2007, it Note: Small differences in totals are due to rounding. Source: FPS Economy – DGSEI, 2009. Table 2. Land occupation and evolution between 1834 and 2007 1834 1990 2000 2007 1834 1990 2000 km² km² km² km² % % % Land area 29 456 30 278 30 278 30 278 100.0 100.0 100.0 Agricultural area 19 172 18 302 17 653 13 703 65.1 60.4 58.3 Arable land 15 087 7 594 8 631 8 396 51.2 25.1 28.5 Permanent grassland 3 468 5 786 5 069 5 073 11.8 19.1 16.7 Woodland and semi- 5 414 6 471 6 463 na 18.4 21.4 21.3 natural areas Urban areas 1 131 6 071 6 250 na 3.8 20.0 20.6 na: data not available. Source: FPS Economy, 2008; DGSEI, 2009. Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profile 7 Table 3. Agricultural area in 2007 Area (ha) Proportion (% AA) Belgium Flemish Walloon Belgium Flemish Walloon Region Region Region Region Agricultural area 1 370 285 622 133 747 840 100.0 100.0 100.0 Arable land 839 606 435 514 403 882 61.3 70.0 54.0 Permanent grasslands 507 304 165 527 341 677 37.0 26.6 45.7 Permanent + temporary grasslands 592 571 221 328 371 139 43.2 35.6 49.6 Source: DGSEI, 2009 represented 37% of the AA while Table 4. Main structure parameters of Belgian agriculture arable land area accounted for about Belgium Flemish Walloon 61%. Temporary and permanent Region Region grasslands occupied 43% of the AA Number of holdings 48 013 31 984 16 008 and annual crops 55%. The area Number of holdings with permanent grasslands 35 414 21 427 13 976 and the proportion of grasslands Number of holdings with forage crops 26 027 17 969 8 053 (permanent + temporary) are higher Number of holdings with cattle 28 462 16 792 11 663 in Wallonie (371 000 ha and 50% Agricultural labour (number of people) 89 041 62 511 26 470 of the AA) compared with Flanders (221 000 ha and 36% of the AA) Full time 46 500 31 657 14 802 (Table 3).