The International Provincial Consultation (IPO) has announced that the provinces of Zeeland and North Brabant will enable the external netting of nitrogen with livestock farms in mid-September. Other provinces are also considering starting the offending method for nitrogen reduction in the coming weeks, whereby 30% of nitrogen rights in livestock farming are skimmed off for nature protection.
External netting also makes business development (again) possible. However, it is questionable whether there is fair competition. Investors for housing, industry and infrastructure will bid against livestock farms. Provinces can also enter the market for nitrogen rights as buyers. This spring there was a fuss about the province of North Brabant, which had pre-cooked the purchase of livestock nitrogen rights for the expansion of the Moerdijk logistics park in North Holland and Drenthe.
Empty countryside?
The Producers Organization for Livestock Farming (POV) fears the countryside is 'empty' and does not trust the nitrogen registration system, which the government, politicians and agricultural sector use to monitor the balance in the nitrogen rights trade between livestock farming and other sectors.
According to the POV, it is not clear what the starting situation of livestock farms is and the government still leaves the so-called PAS reporters in uncertainty about the status of their company with regard to nitrogen rights. External netting with parties outside the livestock sector means that the scope for development for livestock farming is even smaller, apart from the 30% creaming off for nature conservation.
Rattling nitrogen registration
LTO is also still very concerned about the status of the so-called PAS detectors. An adequate permit for farmers and horticulturists who have acted in good faith is of the utmost importance, emphasizes the interest group. With the elections in sight, political solutions must be sought as quickly as possible. LTO does not accept that clarity can only be provided in 2021.
Like POV, LTO also insists on the legal sustainability of the nitrogen registration system. It must be clear who has which nitrogen space, which transactions are taking place and how much nitrogen is being reduced through development and sustainability. The interest group suggests that this crucial file on nitrogen rights is kept 'here and there in spreadsheets'. External netting without a solution to the bottlenecks and a nitrogen registration and deposition system will become chaos, warns LTO in a press statement in which the current working methods of IPO and LNV are referred to as 'training'.
Opposing interests
Interest groups other than LTO and POV, such as Agractie and in particular Farmers Defense Force, have so far always opposed the exchange of ammonia from livestock farming with nitrogen pollution from traffic and industry, which does not involve ammonia but nitrogen oxides (NOx). .
Opposed to the opposition to external netting, which is one of the reasons for the ongoing massive farmer protest, is the interest of the stopping livestock farmers, who see an opportunity in nitrogen rights trade with parties outside the livestock sector to enable debt-free business termination. This is apparent from reactions on Internet forums after the actual start of the external netting, i.e. in the provinces of Zeeland and Noord-Brabant, was announced in mid-September.
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
