Farming near a Natura 2000 area presents numerous challenges and uncertainties. Dairy farmers who are unwilling to stop or relocate have been eligible for subsidies to extensify their farms since 2024. This scheme will also be extended to arable farmers in the spring of 2026. Whether this scheme will be widely used remains to be seen. The compensation for arable farmers is up to €1.410 per hectare lower than for dairy farmers.
There's a whole lot of room for discussion about what constitutes intensive and extensive. For the extensification scheme, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) uses, among other things, a standard of 100 or 150 kilos of nitrogen per hectare for dairy farms and a user standard of 100 or 150 kilos of nitrogen per hectare for arable farms. To put this in perspective: an organic farm may use up to 170 kilos of nitrogen per hectare. For livestock farmers, at least 80% of the agricultural area must consist of grassland, and arable farmers must cultivate rest crops on at least 50% of the area to participate in the extensification scheme. The conditions for livestock farming can be found on the website of the RVO and for arable farming on extensuringn2000.nl.
Another condition is that the scheme is only open to partnerships. A partnership consists of at least two parties that use at least 200 hectares of agricultural land, half of which is in a transition zone around a nitrogen-sensitive area. The transition zone is a strip of 2,5 kilometers around a Natura 2000-area.
Same standard, big differences in compensation
For both livestock farmers and arable farmers, the standard of 100 or 150 kilos of nitrogen per hectare is a significant challenge. However, there's a world of difference in compensation. A dairy farmer who achieves a nitrogen emission standard of 100 kilos receives an annual compensation of €2.430 per hectare. At 150 kilos of nitrogen, that's €1.680 per hectare. An arable farmer has to make do with a management fee of €1.020 with a nitrogen emission standard of 100 kilos and €375 with 150 kilos of nitrogen. These are €1.410 and €1.305 less per hectare, respectively, than for a dairy farmer.
Arable farmers can qualify for a higher compensation, but only crop protection products from the Skal list may be used. In that case, the compensation is €3.130 per hectare based on a nitrogen application standard of 100 kilos and €2.675 per hectare based on 150 kilos. In practice, this means that arable farmers must cultivate organically. The regulations for arable farming have not yet been published, so amounts are subject to change.
The compensation under the extensification scheme should compensate for lost income. The significant difference in compensation between dairy farming, conventional arable farming, and organic arable farming raises questions among some stakeholders. What studies or figures are the income losses based on? Furthermore, the potential disruptive effect of the extensification scheme on the land market in the affected areas is pointed out.