The potato sector is pleased with the €50 million that the cabinet is making available to compensate growers of French fries. The big question now is who can claim this and under what conditions.
“We are now working hard on this together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality,” André Hoogendijk, director of the Arable Farming Trade Organization (BO), tells Boerenbusiness. The now daily consultation with representatives of the ministry was immediately resumed this morning (Thursday). According to Hoogendijk, two things are important: that money becomes available and that there is clarity quickly about the content of the compensation scheme.
As regards €50 million the BO foreman is satisfied. “There will be no compensation scheme for agriculture across the board, but there are 2 sectors that will receive something: floriculture and chip potatoes. We are very happy that our sector is among them.” All parties involved must agree on the precise details. “The commencement date is important, among other things. From when will the scheme start, until when and how much will growers be paid?
Effective date of the scheme
With regard to the effective date, other crisis arrangements are also being considered. “It seems logical that this is corona-related, so for example from March 16. But retroactive compensation from April 1 is also a possibility. We are now going to take a closer look at that.” According to Hoogendijk, the same applies to the burden of proof that growers must provide. A weighing slip seems the most obvious. “We will coordinate this with RVO, which will implement the compensation scheme. There must be good conditions that are logical for the sector and can be easily monitored.”
One thing is clear: the aim is to make the compensation scheme as simple as possible. “From the start, we have invested in all the ware potatoes that are now in storage. This amounts to approximately 1,5 million tons, of which 1 million cannot be processed regularly. Their market value has fallen considerably and that is what the compensation is intended for.” It is estimated that there are approximately 1.500 growers.
Little customization
No distinction is made between free potatoes and contacted potatoes. “There are of course all kinds of contract forms, we want to stay away from them as much as possible. We try to keep the arrangement as simple as possible.” According to Hoogendijk, this means a somewhat coarser compensation, with one grower coming out better than the other. A grower who had hedged his price risk on the futures market will 'farmer' more favorably than a grower who has waited. “That can be interpreted as less fair, but we have to look at what is possible and what is feasible in a scheme.”
It is not expected that growers will emerge from this crisis any better. “Most people will still be very ill even with this compensation scheme. What we do want to prevent is that companies end up in intensive care. We think that in this way we alleviate the worst pain.”
Hurry up
Hoogendijk suspects that in a week it will be more clear about the exact details of the compensation scheme. “It will take a few days before everything is properly boarded up. Lawyers have to look at it, that takes the most time.” Hurry is required, he emphasizes. “It is important that the potato flow gets started.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality indicates that they understand this need. Normally it takes a few months to organize the implementation of a scheme. “We are now working very hard to provide more clarity to growers about the conditions as quickly as possible. We do this in consultation with the sector, for which we have daily contact with each other.” The spokesperson does not dare to give a time frame within which this clarity can be expected.