The Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union (NMV) is taking the initiative for a restart of the Agricultural Collective. Members call on the trade unions in other agricultural sectors, such as the POV (pig farming), NAV (arable farming), FVN (meat farming) and NVP (poultry farming) to join forces to form an Agricultural Collective 3.0.
Together they represent an important part of the agricultural sector. Because when things go like last summer, the NMV points out, the various coalition partners of the Agricultural Collective often work at odds with each other. This gives the government the opportunity to play off the opposing interests of the sometimes very different coalition partners against each other.
Unprecedented togetherness
The memory of the unprecedented massive demonstrations in October last year and the way in which the Agricultural Collective united together all winter long is apparently very much alive. It is worthwhile not to let this period disappear as a one-off highlight in the history books, emphasizes NMV board member Jeroen van Maanen. He was the initiator of the Agricultural Collective, which followed the large national protest of 1 October 2019 on the Malieveld in The Hague. Then on behalf of Farmers Defense Force.
"Since time immemorial, there has never been such a massive demonstration by the agricultural sector as last October. The Agricultural Collective that subsequently emerged, despite the differences between them, received the support of all parties involved in the agricultural sector. I cannot remember that the unanimity in the advocacy was once so great," said Van Maanen.
Shattered like never before
Van Maanen acknowledges that LTO's attitude played an important role. The established order decided to join the initiative of newcomers, including Bart Kemp and Erik Luiten from Agractie. But this spring, the close-knit Agricultural Collective also failed because of LTO's attitude. They no longer wanted to get along with Farmers Defense Force, which does not shy away from strong language and has a high willingness to take action. Not much later, after a discussion in the board, Van Maanen concluded that he no longer wanted to represent Farmers Defense Force. He joined the board of the NMV.
Subsequently, the Ministry of LNV was given the opportunity to play off the various agricultural interest groups against each other. And the coalition partners, who had managed to keep the sometimes large differences and the accompanying irritation out of the press for a whole winter, bombarded each other with reproaches. The question whether a seat at the table at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is justified on the basis of the number of members, and if so which one, played and still plays a role in this. Profiling urge too.
Farmers Defense Force
Sieta van Keimpema, who is part of the Farmers Defense Force, says about this: "Last summer, various interest groups held consultations at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality 10 times. But they never saw the minister himself." According to her, there are no initiatives from the other coalition partners for rapprochement with Farmers Defense Force.
The organization is also not at the table with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. "We have chosen to reach our supporters and our goals in our own way, for example with a successful demonstration. We conduct independent discussions, for example with Johan Vollenbroek of the MOB (which prompted the court decision on the Programmatic Approach to Nitrogen, ed). Consulting with us is only useful if cost increases due to regulations are ruled out in advance."
This Farmers Defense Force setup doesn't stop the NMV from trying to get everyone back together again if the opportunity arises. Van Maanen: "As an Agricultural Collective we can pick up the thread again and negotiate and communicate about this together with the government. If the differences between them are too great, each individual can enter into discussions with the Minister. A restart of the Agricultural Collective is hard. This is necessary, because the need in Dutch agriculture is greater than ever. We must prevent nature organisations, banks, green politicians and large-scale processors from further undermining our revenue model through even more production rules and legislation."
Nitrogen policy fire letter
A good example of this method is the nitrogen fire letter that the Nitrogen working group, in which most coalition parties are represented, sent to the minister on Thursday. This has been signed by 9 organizations including LTO, the NMV, the NAJK and Agractie. LTO did the communication. Conclusion: there is still life in the Agricultural Collective. But Farmers Defense Force is going its own way.
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