The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has a considerably larger budget at its disposal in 2020. According to agriculture minister Carola Schouten, the €1,4 billion will mainly be spent on the transition to circular agriculture.
"The changes we face demand a lot from farmers, gardeners and fishermen and the chains in which they operate," Schouten writes in her explanation on the million dollar bill dated Tuesday, September 17 presented became. "The ministry wants to continue working on a new perspective in collaboration with agricultural entrepreneurs and chain parties: sustainable and innovative with the prospect of earning a good living. The focus is on regional cooperation and offering room for customization."
A total of €1,4 billion will be available for the Ministry of Agriculture next year (for comparison: in 2019 this was €882 million). This amounts to approximately 0,46% of the total government budget. According to Schouten, the implementation of policy intentions on themes such as earning capacity, soil, manure, crop protection and lease will be central in 2020. "The Climate Agreement provides an important boost to the transition to circular agriculture. With the additional resources that will become available for, among other things, making livestock farming more sustainable and tackling the peat meadow areas, the ministry can work on work."
Strengthen entrepreneurship
To enable a successful transition to circular agriculture, the sector needs financially healthy entrepreneurs. The ministry therefore wants to make further agreements with banks and other financiers about supporting entrepreneurs who want to make the transition to circular business operations. Furthermore, the competition law adjusted to create more clarity about room for cooperation, and there will be a legal ban on unfair trade practices. It will also be in 2020 business takeover fund operational for young farmers.
The restoration of nature and biodiversity will receive ample attention in the agricultural budget for 2020. With the transition to circular agriculture, Dutch agriculture can make an important contribution to this, according to Schouten. "This requires a more sustainable use of soil, water, fertilizer and crop protection products."
Soil and water
Schouten announces, among other things, that measuring methods for soil quality will be determined in 2020. Work is also underway to revise the lease legislation. This should, among other things, result in longer-term lease contracts, which encourage tenant and lessor to use the soil sustainably. The Freshwater Delta Program and the Agricultural Water Management Delta Plan will also be rolled out next year. Smart retention, storage and efficient (re)use of water are central.
Schouten: "In addition to general sustainable management of agricultural soils, the ministry is working specifically on tackling the problem in peat meadow areas in 2020, where the peat oxidizes and the soil sinks as a result of a low water level and intensive agricultural use. Farmers are encouraged to develop new , apply less intensive forms of land use and other crops to combat land subsidence and strengthen nature." The Ministry of Agriculture has made a total of €79 million available for this purpose.
Manure and crop protection
This autumn, the ministry will present the contours of the new manure policy, the implementation of which will start in 2020. An additional budget has been made available to structurally reduce manure fraud. Schouten: "The ultimate goal is to close the feed-manure cycle as much as possible by 2030 through reuse and more efficient use of food and fertilizers. By closing cycles, manure regulations also become less restrictive for farmers."
The explanatory memorandum to the agricultural budget also mentions a substantial reduction in the use of crop protection products. This must be the result of the implementation program that follows future vision towards 2030. To accelerate the development of new crops, the ministry is committed to a breakthrough at a European level to expand the application of new breeding techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas, provided that no species boundaries are crossed.
Remediation of pig farm
Also an important theme in the government's plans for agriculture is the warm remediation of pig farming. A total of €60 million has been reserved for this purpose. Pig farmers who cause odor nuisance can receive financial compensation if they close their business. In addition, from the end of 2019, the ministry will make subsidies available for emission-reducing innovations in stables. Furthermore, efforts are being made to amend the Nitrate Directive to expand the possibilities for the use of animal manure and reduce the use of artificial fertilizer.
animal welfare
Finally, a lot of attention in the agricultural budget is paid to animal welfare as part of making livestock farming more sustainable. Schouten announces that a subsidy scheme will be operational in 2020 that, in addition to low-emission housing systems, will contribute to improving animal welfare. The ministry will also continue to work in 2020 on reducing the number of stable fires through, among other things, a periodic electrical inspection. To structurally reduce animal mortality, quality and benchmark systems are being set up and stricter measures for transport are being implemented.