'40 percent of rent not as agreed'

"In 2018, the Central Government Real Estate Agency found that something was not going according to plan in 40% of the short-term leased agricultural land," says Eelco Terpstra, head of the agricultural use section. Reason for the RVB to look for an instrument that could closely monitor this. This was found in the AI ​​tool of Geronimo from Delft.

Rules
During the Groundcast with Boerenbusiness told Terpstra already last year about the use of this tool for 'construction plan monitoring' and the relatively high percentage of violations, which in practice is somewhat more nuanced. Liberalized lease plots usually come with a package of requirements from the RVB. Which crops you are allowed to grow, where, how much and in which rotation. In practice, these requirements were or are not always strictly adhered to. For example, the crop rotation is sometimes too narrow or too few rest crops are grown and too many intensive crops such as tulips or (seed) potatoes.

The RVB, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, works with stewards in the various regions where it is active. The 41.000 hectares of leased land are mainly located in Flevoland (28.000 hectares) and North Holland (5.000 hectares), but also in the southwest (8.000 hectares spread across the Netherlands). In the past, stewards had to visit plots themselves to identify violations. The RVB employs eight stewards for this purpose. A doubling compared to a few years ago, but still relatively few for over 40.000 hectares.

Satellite images
How does that work in practice? With Cropmapp, as the application is called, free satellite images are collected from the Sentinel I and II satellites. By creating a large image bank, the AI ​​model can recognize more and more crops over time. To do this, it also looks at crop growth (vegetative index) to register differences. As much data as possible is added to the system to form a reliable picture of the seasons. According to the company itself, this results in the software being able to detect weekly changes in the crop or the environment.

With this data literally in their back pocket, stewards can specifically check for possible violations. In 2023, the RVB started issuing warnings to tenants who were found to be in violation. "This year, the government service started issuing fines immediately," steward Janine Mepschen told Omroep Flevoland. "If you violate the rules again, the lease agreement will be terminated."

Offer
There is also criticism from the agricultural sector. The pain is mainly in the registration process. For ten years, the RVB has been working with a system of public registration for short-term lease agreements of one to about five years. In practice, this has resulted in amounts being offered that are far above the regular lease prices. In order to still be able to make a return, cultivation is sometimes (too) intensive. The RVB puts a stop to that.

In order to pay more attention to soil quality, the RVB will start rewarding sustainability certificates this year. If you grow organically or PlanetProof, your bid will be virtually increased. A SKAL number yields 15% added value. For PlanetProof in arable farming, that is 10%. Dairy farmers with PlanetProof can count on 5%. For Beter Leven, that is 4%. "In three years, the percentages of the four certificates will be doubled," says Terpstra. "In this way, the SKAL certificate will be increased in three steps to 30%."

10% area organic
The RVB's goal is to convert 10% of the released lease land to organic every year. In doing so, it wants to meet the current ambition of the Ministry of LVVN to make 15% of the Dutch agricultural area organic. This year, the service is offering 723 hectares of agricultural land in Flevoland and Wieringermeer for liberalized lease. The registration date for these lots, which can be registered for via Biedboek.nl, closes at the beginning of September.