Since my administrative career at LTO began 7 years ago, it has been a topic of conversation: should you first provide the revenue model for biodiversity or should you first build the "system" to be able to reward? Many farmers believe that if there is no revenue model, you should not start building a system to be able to reward. I myself have always been of the opinion that you have to do both.
Of course, the revenue model is crucial if you want to make the sector more sustainable. If you make the steps a company takes measurable, verifiable and certifiable, it will really make a difference. Because which rewarder (government, market or chain) will want to give a serious reward without knowing that the money is being put to good use?
We really need to develop together
For that reason, I have always been committed to both areas. A more sustainable reward and a workable system to measure and make sustainability performance transparent. Although many people are skeptical about rewards based on sustainability, the world is changing. So we really have to develop along with it. A rough calculation shows that in 2023, around €300 million will have been paid out in sustainability premiums in dairy farming by the dairy industry. That is a great step, but not yet enough to really continue building a future-proof dairy farming industry.
Making commitment visible
We will also have to take steps in making it measurable and verifiable. As a dairy farming sector, we are really ahead of other sectors and certainly also within the global dairy market by using the KringloopWijzer (KLW) with the Critical Performance Indicators (KPIs). With the data from the KLW we make it measurable how our mineral flows run and with these KPIs we can concretely show what we do on our farms in the field of climate, nitrogen, water ... and therefore on sustainability.
If we want to measure sustainability on biodiversity integrally, we need to go further to also make the KPIs Nature and Landscape and Herb-rich grassland measurable and visible. Because every dairy farmer can participate in strengthening biodiversity! From DairyNLin cooperation with FarmersNature, we have managed to take a nice step here. From the Corona recovery fund and the ministry of LVVN we have managed to get a considerable budget to advise farmers for free, to let them participate, and to also give them an expense allowance for their time. With this we lay a foundation to also make the input from the dairy farming sector for these indicators transparent. With the Agricultural Natural project we can sign up 1.100 dairy farmers!
In my opinion, a positive development and stimulus. Because whether the chicken came first or the egg; as a sector, we must continue to build on the revenue model and a future sustainable reward system. Will you help build?
Wilco Brouwer de Koning, LTO dairy farmer
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