NAV hopeful about customized nitrate directive

In the webinar - held on January 31 - NAV board members discussed the 7th Nitrate Directive Action Program and the new CAP in more detail. The consequences for the Dutch arable farming sector were central. It is a comprehensive package of measures, options and opportunities that work out differently for every company and every region.

Working on a customized plan
Together with fellow advocates such as LTO Nederland and the NAJK, but also Rabobank and Cumela, the NAV advocates a so-called tailor-made approach. This should make it possible for entrepreneurs not to guarantee water quality with generic measures, but to make a plan that suits their company and situation. The association is in continuous discussions with the ministry about this. "We are working hard and there are many meetings at the moment," says board member Sjoerd Heestermans. He is responsible for this file within the NAV. "We don't have an agreement yet, but we are positive."

The Ministry of Agriculture presented the plans to Brussels last December submitted. These are still incomplete and a supplement and further elaboration is expected to be submitted in mid-February. The intention was that the 7th Action Program would come into effect on January 1 of this year. NAV is now calling for a one-year postponement. "So much is still unknown, partly because of the change of cabinet in our country. It cannot be the case that farmers have to bear the consequences for political shortcomings," said NAV chairman Teun de Jong during the webinar.

Mandatory rotation and dormant crop
Heestermans explained the important points of the 7th Action Program during his presentation. What mainly concerns arable farmers is the mandatory crop rotation. This only applies to sandy soil. From next year, regulations will require that a dormant crop be grown at least once every four years. What these exactly are is still unknown, but Heestermans assumes mainly grains and similar extensive crops. Corn is certainly not included. "The aim now is to move to a mandatory one in three rotation with a rest crop from 2027," he explains. "We at NAV are opposed to this. A one in four rotation is probably workable for companies."

At the same time as requirements for the crop plan and rotation, a rest or catch crop on sandy soil must be sown before October 1 from 2023. Depending on the pre-crop, that date can be moved, for example when it concerns a winter crop or a perennial crop. A lot of information is still missing in the margins. If you sow a catch crop before that date, you will maintain the N application standard. After that time you will be reduced.

Advantage for organic
Both the rules of the 7th Action Program and the new CAP show that there is a clear advantage for organic companies. There are no building plan obligations or other requirements. In the three-step plan for the new CAP, organic farms are automatically classified in the highest class (gold), which means that they receive the maximum hectare premium in the second pillar. It therefore appears that government policy is clearly trying to advertise organic cultivation. Given the ambition of 25% organic cultivation, this is plausible.

What the NAV strongly opposes is the distribution of CAP funds. Heestermans: "€7 million has been made available for the 118,7th Action Programme. What we oppose is farmers being paid with funds from the first pillar of the CAP for measures they take in the context of the 7th Action Programme. There is a chance of serif growth from the measures. For example, in the southwest it is easier to carry out additional nature management by using trees, forests and fallow strips than for a farmer in, say, Flevoland. If they create a field edge to safeguard water quality, it will be CAP money rewarded. That is not fair."

Financial consequences
The NAV is currently busy calculating the financial consequences of both the 7th Action Program and the new CAP. What does it mean for the income and entrepreneurial prospects of the arable farmer? "It should not be the case that a company in, for example, the Veenkoloniën is closed down because the measures are unfavorable," says Heestermans.

Where arable farms also have to compromise is the new method of calculating phosphate space, Heestermans outlined in his presentation. "This varies greatly per area. In the southwest, many companies lose quite a bit of phosphate space, but we now know that with the new calculation method this also has a negative impact for companies in Flevoland, the Wieringermeer and the Groningen clay areas. In extreme cases, companies lose 20 % of their installation space. In theory, the sandy soils are improving, but they cannot benefit from this. Three-quarters of those soils have already been classified in the 'high' class and therefore have the lowest phosphate standard."

Also affects livestock farming
The loss of placement space for nitrogen and the clearing of more hectares – within the new CAP – for fallow strips, field edges, non-fertilized protein crops and more results in (significantly) less usable surface area on which animal manure can be spread. "The stricter measures within arable farming will thus indirectly fall on the livestock and therefore the livestock farmers," says Heestermans. "We raised the problem of the phosphate placement space with then minister Schouten. She promised to look into it. We now have to deal with four ministries and that does not make it any easier. It remains to be seen how the new minister Henk Staghouwer will tackle this file. "