with videoFarmers’ organizations are pleased that the cabinet is largely adopting Johan Remkes’ recommendations. Still, a lot of skepticism remains, especially now that forced buy-out of farmers continues to hang above the market.
David Bremmer
Latest update:
20:39
It is mainly the new tone that the cabinet has adopted since Remkes that farmers’ organizations can appreciate. “The cabinet has again stated that confidence must be restored and that the cabinet wants to make a new start,” farmers’ organization Agractie responds. “These are good intentions that we recognize ourselves in. We hope these intentions are translated into action.”
According to the largest farmers’ organization LTO, the cabinet ‘seems to take Remkes’ criticism seriously on a number of important points’. For example, LTO is pleased that it wants to replace the Critical Deposition Value (KDW), the objectionable measure that determines when nitrogen emissions are harmful, with a better method.
Give the farmers more time, nature really won’t collapse on January 1, 2030
Nevertheless, the positive reactions more or less end there. Some farmers’ organizations are very critical of the date of January 1, 2030, which the cabinet continues to hold for the nitrogen targets. “We want that to be 2035”, says Caroline van der Plas of the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB). “Give the farmers more time, nature really will not collapse on January 1, 2030.”
Despite the lack of ‘forced buyout’ of farmers in the government response, coercion is not off the table either. “That option remains hanging above the market and that causes a lot of misery for farming families,” says Van der Plas.
‘Red Zones’
There is also great dissatisfaction with the ‘zoning’, in which Remkes wants to divide the Netherlands into red, orange, yellow and green zones. In the red zones there is room for intensive agriculture, in green zones it has to be small and organic. “We assume that zoning is not an issue,” says Bart Kemp of Agractie. “As farmers, we will definitely not cooperate with that.” LTO calls ‘zoning from above not a solution’.
Van der Plas of BBB points out that the zoning is in fact a variant of the previously challenged nitrogen map of Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nature & Nitrogen). ,,That card immediately hung on the wall at Rabobank. Banks abruptly cut funding to farmers with businesses in the wrong place. The zoning works exactly the same.”
Agractie lacks in the government response the scrapping of the exchange of ammonia and nitrogen, as Remkes advises. “This Wild West buyout has to stop!” says chairman Kemp.
In addition, so-called PAS reporters must obtain a permit for their nitrogen emissions as soon as possible, according to the interest group. PAS detectors are the 3300 farms that did not require a permit for extra emissions under the old Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS). It was sufficient to report the expected emissions.
We don’t want to live in a reservation, the zoning has to be removed
The radical Farmers Defense Force (FDF) is and remains the most critical. “Everything about the government’s response is wrong,” says chairman Mark van den Oever. “We are strongly against the possibility of expropriation. Zoning is also a crucial point. We don’t want to live in a reservation, that has to be taken off the table.” The cabinet has not listened to the farmers, FDF believes. “We will continue to campaign.” Van den Oever assumes that other farmers’ organizations will eventually pick up their protests again. “We expect that there will be a lot of support if the rest realize what is going on.”
According to the BBB, the cabinet should focus much more on innovations in farmers’ business operations. “The cabinet now wants to work on this, but it should have been done much earlier,” says party leader Van der Plas. Farmers must be facilitated as much as possible to switch to a more sustainable model. Of the 25 billion euros that the government has earmarked for the nitrogen problem, only 1 billion is now available for innovation. That must be much more.”
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