ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of the pre-war developments, especially in order to provide an insight into the relationship between the state and the farmers. It examines the problems and challenges immediately after the end of the war, and the manner in which production was restored. The chapter also examines the new role of the state in Belgium and the Netherlands and it is compared, whereby the main focus is on the so-called structural policy, and the social and cultural measures to improve and modernise the farmer's way of life. During the 1950s, agriculture ministers in both countries chose to develop a so-called structural policy at the same time as the pricing and market policies. The structural policy for agriculture was aimed in the first place at improving the farmer's work and production circumstances. The first measure was aimed at the techniques and economics of farm management, the second was mainly steered by sociological views.
