Less arable land will become available for the cultivation of vegetable crops, in order to compensate for the emissions in livestock farming. That is a conclusion from the climate plan that Minister Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries) sent to the House on 17 April. BO Akkerbouw is critical and makes the necessary comments.
At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Wageningen University has scenario studies carried out for the Dutch agricultural sector in the year 2050. BO Akkerbouw is critical of the elaboration of this, because arable farming suffers, or so it thinks.
100.000 hectares less
In 2017, the acreage of arable land amounted to 600.000 hectares, the study calculates. An area of more than 2050 hectares is estimated for 500.000. In the most 'negative' scenario, this is 200.000 hectares, when the focus is mainly on nature. The acreage of forest in this scenario is 400.000 hectares, which is mainly at the expense of the acreage of grassland.
The concept studies undermine the possibilities for circular agriculture, because, for example, a large part of the animal feed will still be imported, and not produced within the Netherlands. BO Akkerbouw would like to see more room for the so-called protein transition. Collaboration between dairy farmers and arable farmers also becomes more difficult in the scenarios, because grassland can no longer be used as arable land. That puts the sector in a bind, it concludes.
Yield increase
In their report, the Wageningen researchers take into account a 30% increase in yield for arable crops in 2050. At the same time, lower phosphate application standards are proposed, which actually depletes the soil, the BO thinks. "Every farmer knows that this leads to exhaustion."
Crop production is to be reduced in the plans to allow forest planting on arable land. This is necessary to compensate for the emissions from livestock farming. BO Akkerbouw doubts this statement and says it is disappointed in the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Only limited attention is given in the report to plant protein production and other nutritional trends. The generation of sustainable energy is also not included.
Making good use of the best grounds
Vice-chairman Jaap van Wenum says in a press release that the practice is different. The arable acreage is growing and expanding. He emphasizes the importance of striving for climate neutrality across Europe. "It is important to use the most fertile land for food production. It is better to use land that is difficult to cultivate in Europe for planting forests."
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This is in response to it Boerenbusiness article:
[url=http://www.boerenbusiness.nl/ artikel/10886798/climate study-arable farming-wijkt-voor-veehouderij]Climate study: Arable farming gives way to livestock farming[/url]