Hundreds of farmers are waiting for buyout plan, ‘uncertainty is frustrating’

• Sarah Burmann

  interior curator

Hundreds of farmers want to be bought out, but are waiting for a suitable buy-back deal. This can be seen from a tour of the NOS along all the provincial administrations. According to directors and industry organization LTO, a quick fix is ​​needed, because the question is how long farmers will wait.

The tour shows that at least 700 farmers have signaled to the provinces that they want to stop. Whether those companies will actually stop is not yet certain, but there is interest nonetheless. The province of Noord-Brabant does not have concrete figures on the number of farmers who have applied, but a study was carried out earlier this year which showed that almost 1500 farmers want to go out of business for the long term.

On Friday, the cabinet is expected to introduce a new shutdown scheme for the most polluting farms. Leaked yesterday that the cabinet intends to offer the most polluting farms a stop bonus of up to 120 per cent of the farm’s value. Farmers and provinces hope this scheme sheds light for some of the farmers interested in stopping, but fear that less polluting farms will be left out.

Previous buy-out schemes have proved unsuitable for the more than 700 farmers who have actively reported to the provinces, the provinces told NOS. For example, they only focused on pig farmers or major polluters. A more general scheme, available to multiple companies, reimburses only a portion of the company’s value. That makes the scheme less attractive, the provinces say.

The lack of proper regulation is taking up too much time for the provinces. After the disappointing results of the buy-out program for the so-called peak taxers – large polluters of a protected nature – the provinces are disappointed that the buy-out of other farmers is also not taking off. Several provinces see farmers who fall outside existing regulations sell their assets on the market, for example to another farmer or a construction project. That nitrogen space will then not go to nature, making it harder for provinces to meet nitrogen goals.

In addition to a buy-out program available to more farmers, provinces need government cash to profit from nitrogen. There is interest in a closure scheme for 200 farmers in Gelderland alone, but the province has run out of resources. Provincial Administrator Peter Drenth finds this “frustrating” and wants more clarity on takeover options as soon as possible.

LTO spokesperson Trienke Elshof (LTO North) is also disappointed that companies that want to stop now are not being given any answers. “It’s not just something, then you finally make a decision like that. The bullet is through the church and then the provinces can’t offer anything.”

The Provinces hope that the new purchasing methods will be more flexible than the previous ones. Strict conditions have been set on the previous schemes, so that cattle farms where there is a lot of profit to be made have been excluded. Nitrogen Minister Van der Wal’s previously announced “desert attractiveness programme” has also aroused reluctance among concerned farmers in several provinces. They preferred to wait rather than sign right away in the hope that their company will generate more money later.

It also happened today in Limburg, where two farmers would have signed for the cessation of their activities. Because of yesterday leaked toilet plans one of them pulled out at the last minute under a new disruption scheme. “We are very shocked by the suddenly announced plans and so we are already seeing the consequences in practice,” said a spokesman for the province.

Because a new, generous purchasing program is taking so long to arrive, provinces are already taking steps to reduce nitrogen emissions. For example, Gelderland bought companies, for which the province itself advanced money. “But it will stop at some point, because we don’t want to take too many risks,” says provincial administrator Drenth.

A spokesman for Minister Van der Wal told NOS that he understood the provinces’ wishes for a new buyout plan. “It took a long time before we got permission from Brussels.” This is mainly due to EU state aid rules, which could be infringed if subsequently taken over farmers start a livestock farm again.

Exact details of the cabinet plans will be announced on Friday. It will therefore be clear which farmers are eligible under the scheme and under which conditions.