Why are Dutch farmers going multifunctional?

Given that current European Union policy is to stimulate and facilitate multifunctional agriculture (European farm model), it would be useful to know why farmers decide to go multifunctional. This paper presents the results of research into the factors determining the adoption of multifunctional activities. It is based on a survey of 495 farms throughout the Netherlands. Binomial logit models were estimated for multifunctional activities in general and for four specific activities. It was found that trust in the government is an important explanatory factor for participation in nature conservation and tourism, but is less important for services and on-farm sales. Farm location is important for nature conservation, services, and tourism. But farmers see tourism as an invasion of ‘farmership’. Farmers who value land ownership highly are less likely to have nature conservation contracts, as then they lose property rights over their own land.