News Financial
Rabobank is concerned about farmers' earning model
Rabobank wants to work together with all chain parties in agriculture towards further sustainability. Not only must there be clarity about the nitrogen requirements, but also about all other requirements for the farmer. This requires a stable policy. However, it will still be difficult and will remain difficult to develop a good earning model for agriculture.
Would you like to continue reading this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you"It just remains difficult," says group board member Kirsten Konst. Rabobank says it wants to help farmers by offering farmers who work in an extra sustainable way and limit their emissions an interest discount on loans, but that is not enough. Other parties must also contribute. , she said.
In doing so, the bank is in line with what was said in the Remkes II report. For livestock farming, the bank mainly wants to focus on emission reduction, for example with the help of the Lely Sphere and other innovations that have or will be given a place or the RAV list.
Innovation is not enough
Innovation alone cannot achieve sufficient emission reductions, says head of food transition Bas Rüter. He believes that more should be intensified and that more landscape elements should be added to the agricultural area. He mentioned a percentage of 10% of the rural area for this.
Deputy director of Food & Agri Martine Boon clarified with a number of calculation examples how difficult it is for dairy farmers and other agricultural companies to both increase sustainability and continue to earn an acceptable income. It was striking that in various examples she hinted at broadening the business operations: for example dairy cattle plus the cultivation of French fries potatoes or another branch.
Financing still approved
According to Konst, due to all the problems that Dutch agriculture is now facing, the number of new loans has fallen sharply, but according to her credit applications are still coming in and "most of them are approved." When asked what kind of investments this concerns, Konst said that it concerns, for example, the purchase of land or the modernization of a stable.