Editing Economy of Denmark (section)

=== Agriculture ===
[[File:Rømø - Kühe an der Tränke.jpg|thumb|Pasture grazing cattle ([[Rømø]])]]

Agriculture was once the most important industry in Denmark. Nowadays, it is of minor economic importance. In 2016, 62,000 people, or 2.5% of all employed people worked in agriculture and horticulture. Another 2,000 people worked in [[fishing industry in Denmark|fishing]].<ref name=ras300>{{cite web| url = http://statistikbanken.dk/ras300 |website=StatBank Denmark |title=Table RAS300: EMPLOYED (END NOVEMBER) BY INDUSTRY (DB07), SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, AGE AND SEX. |access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref> As value added per person is relatively low, the share of national value added is somewhat lower. Total gross value added in agriculture, forestry and fishing amounted to 1.6% of total output in Denmark (in 2017).<ref name=nabp10/> Despite this, Denmark is still home to various types of agricultural production. Within animal husbandry, it includes dairy and beef cattle, pigs, poultry and fur animals – all sectors that produce mainly for export. Regarding vegetable production, Denmark is a leading producer of grass-, clover- and horticultural seeds. The agriculture and food sector as a whole represented 25% of total Danish commodity exports in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/dnk/all/show/2015/|title=Products exported by Denmark (2015)|website=The Observatory of Economic Complexity|access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref>

63% of the land area of Denmark is used for agricultural production – the highest share in the world according to a report from [[University of Copenhagen]] in 2017.<ref>{{in lang|da}} [http://www.ft.dk/samling/20161/almdel/mof/bilag/230/1717575.pdf ''Udviklingen af landbrugslandet gennem seks årtier fra 1954 til 2025'', Miljø- og Fødevareudvalget 2016–17 MOF Alm.del Bilag 230, Folketinget.dk 2017]</ref> The Danish agricultural industry is historically characterized by freehold and [[family farm|family ownership]], but due to structural development farms have become fewer and larger. In 2020 the number of farms was approximately 33,000,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://statistikbanken.dk/bdf11 |website=StatBank Denmark |title=Table BDF11: Farms by region, unit, type of farms and area. |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref> of which approximately 10,000 were owned by full-time farmers.<ref>{{in lang|da}} {{cite web |url=https://landbrugsavisen.dk/f%C3%A6rre-end-10000-heltids-landbrug-tilbage-i-danmark |title=Færre end 10.000 heltids-landbrug tilbage i Danmark |website=Landbrugsavisen.dk |date=12 July 2017 |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref>

==== Animal production ====
The tendency toward fewer and larger farms has been accompanied by an increase in animal production, using fewer resources per produced unit.

The number of dairy farmers has reduced to about 3,800 with an average herd size of 150 cows. The milk quota is 1,142 tonnes. More than half of the cows live in new loose-housing systems. Export of dairy products accounts for more than 20 percent of the total Danish agricultural export. The total number of cattle in 2011 was approximately 1.5&nbsp;million. Of these, 565,000 were dairy cows and 99,000 were suckler cows. The yearly number of slaughtering of beef cattle is around 550,000.

For more than 100 years the production of pigs and pig meat was a major source of income in Denmark. Approximately 90 percent of the production is exported. This accounts for almost half of all agricultural exports and for around 5 percent of Denmark's total exports. About 4,200 farmers produce 28&nbsp;million pigs annually. Of these, 20.9&nbsp;million are slaughtered in Denmark.

[[Fur farming|Fur animal production]] on an industrial scale started in the 1930s in Denmark. Prior to a government-mandated culling during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark|COVID-19 pandemic]], Denmark was the world's largest producer of [[mink]] furs, with 1,400 mink farmers fostering 17.2&nbsp;million mink and producing around 14&nbsp;million furs of the highest quality every year (see [[mink industry in Denmark]]).<ref name="L&F">{{cite web|url=http://www.lf.dk/lf/Viden%20om/Landbrugsproduktion/Husdyr/Mink |title=Mink |publisher=Landbrug & Fødevarer |language=da|access-date=25 January 2016}} "Langbrug & Fødevarer" is the largest interest organization for the Danish agricultural and food industry.</ref> Approximately 98 percent of the skins sold at Kopenhagen Fur Auction were exported. Fur ranked as Danish agriculture's third largest export article, at more than DKK 7&nbsp;billion annually. The number of farms peaked in the late 1980s at more than 5,000 farms, but the number has declined steadily since, as individual farms grew in size.<ref name="L&F"/> Danish mink farmers claim their business to be [[sustainable production|sustainable]], feeding the mink food industry waste and using all parts of the dead animal as meat, bone meal and biofuel. Special attention is given to the welfare of the mink, and regular "Open Farm" arrangements are made for the general public.<ref name="DM">{{cite web|url=http://www.danskeminkavlere.dk|title=Danske minkfarmere [Danish Mink Farmers] |publisher=Danske Minkavlere |language=da|access-date=25 January 2016}} "Danske Minkavlere" is the business organization of the Danish mink farming industry.</ref> Mink thrive in, but are not a native to Denmark, and it is considered an [[invasive species]]. [[American Mink]] are now widespread in Denmark and continues to cause problems for the native wildlife, in particular waterfowl.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://naturstyrelsen.dk/naturbeskyttelse/artsleksikon/dyr/pattedyr/rovdyr/mink/|title=Mink|language=da|access-date=25 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131120027/http://naturstyrelsen.dk/naturbeskyttelse/artsleksikon/dyr/pattedyr/rovdyr/mink/|archive-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> Denmark also has a small production of fox, [[chinchilla]] and rabbit furs.<ref name="DM"/>

Two hundred professional producers are responsible for the Danish egg production, which was 66 million kg in 2011. Chickens for slaughter are often produced in units with 40,000 broilers. In 2012, 100&nbsp;million chickens were slaughtered. In the minor productions of poultry, 13&nbsp;million ducks, 1.4&nbsp;million geese and 5.0&nbsp;million turkeys were slaughtered in 2012.

==== Organic production ====
[[Organic farming]] and production has increased considerably and continuously in Denmark since 1987 when the first official regulations of this particular agricultural method came into effect. In 2017, the export of organic products reached DK 2.95&nbsp;billion, a 153% increase from 2012 five years earlier, and a 21% increase from 2016. The import of organic products has always been higher than the exports though and reached DK 3.86&nbsp;billion in 2017. After some years of stagnation, close to 10% of the cultivated land is now categorized as organically farmed, and 13.6% for the dairy industry, as of 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/erhvervslivet-paa-tvaers/oekologi#|title=Organic production and trade|publisher=Statistics Denmark|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref>

Denmark has the highest retail consumption share for organic products in the world. In 2017, the share was at 13.3%, accounting for a total of DKK 12.1&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://organicdenmark.com/organics-in-denmark/facts-and-figures|title=World leading organic nation|publisher=Organic Denmark|date=10 August 2018|access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref>