Entrepreneurship of Dutch dairy farmers

Several developments in the Netherlands as well as in the other countries within the EU are forcing dairy farmers to reconsider their involvement in dairy production. Farmers are being called to account more for the entrepreneurial element of their farming behaviour. Up till now it was unclear how dairy farmers score on entrepreneurial characteristics and whether their entrepreneurial competencies can be improved. Therefore, this study had a two-fold aim: (1) to gain insight into the entrepreneurship of dairy farmers and into what makes a dairy farmer a successful entrepreneur; and (2) to investigate the possibilities for improving the entrepreneurial competencies of dairy farmers by means of a training programme