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The solution to the nitrogen problem? A government with a vision that adjusts the market

Alex Datema, dairy farmer from Briltil in Groningen, attended the high-voltage meeting between the cabinet and farmers on Friday. As chairman of BoerenNatuur, an organization for farmers involved in nature and landscape management, he absolutely sees the need to come to other, more environmentally friendly agriculture. And yet he, too, left feeling unsatisfied.

“The conversation was quite friendly and constructive,” he recalls. “But you just feel that the government is not looking for ways in which they can help farmers. There is a policy that must and will be implemented.”

Datema does not detract from the urgency of the nitrogen targets. It is mainly the too one-sided focus on nitrogen that bothers him. Because behind the crisis are urgent issues: how do we divide the scarce space in the Netherlands? And how can farmers continue to earn enough money with environmentally friendly, but also expensive business models?

Datema thinks there is a lack of vision on this. And that’s why he now gives himself a cross. He does this together with the Regie voor Ruimte initiative group, in which a group of prominent players in the nitrogen discussion from various angles have gathered. Members include nitrogen professor Jan Willem Erisman and former agriculture minister Cees Veerman (CDA).

What is the core of your vision?

Veerman: “We see that the market is failing. There is currently no reward for the farmer who contributes to collective issues such as clean air, good water quality, a diverse landscape. There is no change in the market. Then the government is the only party that can correct the market. That is not happening now, while it is desperately needed to give farmers perspective. We are now allocating almost 25 billion euros for the nitrogen crisis, with a very large part going to the buyout of farmers. It is much better to turn that into a transition fund, which you can use to invest in the future of farmers.”

What does that future look like then?

Datema: “Over the next twenty years, we must move towards an agriculture that is climate neutral, has minimal impact on the environment, maintains the landscape and takes care of biodiversity. There will also be companies that continue on the track of scaling up. They will use technological developments to limit their environmental impact. In addition, there is a group that receives part of its income from, for example, care, childcare or catering. And there will be companies that will work more extensively. They are moving to a different revenue model: for example with fewer animals, and also with lower costs for feed, because they get it from their own land. Or they also do nature and landscape management.”

But the main question now is: how do you get there?

Ferryman: “If farmers maintain the landscape, there must be a decent compensation in return. That is one of the ways in which the government can adjust the market. Another is through the feed. By obliging animal feed suppliers to mix in 20 percent sustainable and local feed, you encourage less soy to be sourced from far away.”
Datema: “It is also important that the farmer is in charge. For example, you could agree that farmers will reduce their environmental space by five percent annually. They can decide for themselves how they do that. Systems are already being developed to make this measurable. And that method has been successful before: the use of antibiotics in livestock farming has been reduced enormously in this way.”

You are a group of relatively progressive thinkers. You can already hear the average farmer think: even more rules.

Datema: “I don’t know if that is the case. Many farmers are well aware that a lot is going to change. When the Lely Sphere (a new barn system that captures nitrogen better, ed.) recently made the news, 700 farmers immediately came to inquire. Because it might be a straw. If you, as a government, take the step to stand next to them and think along, a large part will actually go along. They mainly want to pass on their company to the new generation. And right now they don’t see that space.”

What needs to be done to see that space?

Veerman: “I have two sons who are also farmers. And I also hear them say things like: ‘Just say you want us off the country’. You see that despair in many farmers. The message they get is: ‘It’s not going well, we have to leave’. I don’t see that de-escalating just yet. Now we first have to restore trust. And after that, it is important that there is a really powerful vision, which looks at the future of the farmer in the Netherlands. Because otherwise we will go again towards a mock solution on nitrogen, and we will run into the lamp again in a year’s time.”

Closely involved farmers

Directing Spatial Planning is a group of farmers, administrators and experts closely involved in agriculture. The initiative stems from a manifesto that was published in the run-up to the cabinet formation. In it, the initiative group already called for a vision – even a National Agreement – on themes such as climate, nitrogen, biodiversity and sustainable food production. Within a few weeks, Regie op Ruimte wants to present a new vision about the future of the farmer. The initiative group includes former minister Cees Veerman, nitrogen professor Jan Willem Erisman and Frans Keurentjes, former chairman of FrieslandCampina.


Also read:

Distrust of farmers signs first conversation to get out of nitrogen impasse

During the first consultation with angry farmers, the cabinet made a number of promises. They mainly came down to: we explain it well again. The farmers are not thrilled.

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