News Vision agriculture and horticulture
Rabobank: 'Sector threatens to be regulated to death'
The cabinet should no longer impose mandatory measures on farmers and horticulturists, but rather aim for targets. In this context, agricultural entrepreneurs themselves are in control of how they will achieve those targets on climate, biodiversity and water storage. Rabobank writes this in a new vision, which it presented today (Wednesday), on agriculture and horticulture.
According to Carin van Huët, director of Food&Agri at Rabobank Nederland, target setting by the government does not fit with the challenges facing Dutch agriculture and horticulture. According to her, the current government policy with generic mandatory measures leads to a sector that is 'death-regulated', according to a statement from Rabobank accompanying the vision. "An entrepreneur can only spend his euro once. That is why we have to ensure that the preconditions are right with the entire sector."
More responsibility
According to her, more responsibility should therefore also be placed on the agricultural entrepreneurs themselves. "We see considerably more potential in sustainability through a policy that formulates objectives. This leads to more entrepreneurship and innovation among entrepreneurs who realize these goals with customization and show that they comply with the policy through measurements." Rabobank points to the added value for the Dutch economy.
The agricultural and horticultural chains contribute €51 billion, accounting for 8% of national employment. More than half of the trade surplus of the Dutch economy of €56,6 billion is earned in food and agri. Agricultural entrepreneurs therefore have something to say about it, says Van Huët. For example, in the discussion about the so-called environmental utilization space, about which there is a heated debate in, for example, nitrogen. "We believe in providing opportunities instead of rules. Farmers are entrepreneurs and are perfectly capable of reducing the environmental burden on the basis of those opportunities. That is why we see opportunities for the sector to take control of this debate."
Finding a voice in politics
Setting goals is not exactly the trend in political The Hague, in which the cabinet has prided itself in recent years with measures that are to be introduced that must enforce demonstrable results. In an explanation on the vision When asked, Van Huët says that the bank's call for more freedom and responsibility for farmers and horticulturists is certainly being heard in national politics.
According to Rabobank, the imposition of regulations by the government is reaching its limits. A recent example of this is the concentrate regulation that was shot down at the last minute by agriculture minister Schouten after a long and penetrating protest from the sector. "It is also seen in The Hague that imposing rules will no longer work to achieve the goals," said Van Huët, who indicates that Rabobank is also actively lobbying nature and environmental organizations to take responsibility for achieving goals. more to the agricultural entrepreneur himself.
No external netting
In the nitrogen discussion, Rabobank speaks out against external netting and argues in favor of maintaining barriers between agriculture and horticulture and the rest of the economy. According to Van Huët, the available environmental space must be allocated in a targeted manner. 'Land-bound sectors such as arable farming and dairy farming make the most claims on the environmental space, because the effects on the environment cannot be reduced to zero by production in the open air', the bank writes. 'Sectors that are not land-bound, such as intensive livestock farming and glasshouse horticulture, make less claims on the environmental space. These sectors must have more opportunities to reduce environmental impacts.'
The bank aims to further increase the measurability and transparency of environmental performance. Van Huët refers to sector-specific sustainability matrices and the biodiversity monitor that Rabobank has already introduced for its customers. "Such resources are an absolute precondition to be able to implement a successful target policy." The bank also says it is working on developing financing solutions for circular agriculture and horticulture.
Eric the Thrush
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