Mega stables determine the appearance of our countryside
The photos under the url-links on this page show what visitors to the Dutch countryside (partially concealed by greenery) get to see.
Not everyone will realize that they are actually looking at long stables which contain (tens of) thousands of animals (cows, pigs or chickens). Behind the stables are slurry pits and manure digesters.
These photos were taken in the Dutch provinces Groningen and Drenthe at the beginning of March 2009, but could just as well be scenes from the provinces Friesland, Noord-Holland, Zeeland or Brabant. Mega stables are also to be seen in Gelderland and Limburg, but the countryside there is more rolling. The animals in these stables (mostly pigs and chickens) never leave the meadows (except when they are transported for slaughter). The land around the stables is used to grow (some of the) animal fodder and to spread out manure.This leads to deterioration of flora en fauna, dust particles come free and it stinks, but (just as the animals), this is not visible in a photograph.
The location of the pictures can be seen on Google maps.
On the foto in the Url-link (after you click), you see to the left a stable with a house (home).
To the right, a slurry pit, in the foreground, 2 swans.
For those interested in learning more about the rise in factory farming in the countryside, this is well portrayed in the overview of planned livestock factories drawn up by the Department of Environmental Protection, or more creatively, from a historic and economic perspective in the animated film The Meatrix.