News Farmland
Rabo Transition Fund passes the billion mark, bulk goes to land
Rabobank's transition fund surpassed the €1 billion mark this month, the financier proudly announced in a press release. The fund contains a total of €3 billion intended to help green the Dutch agricultural sector. The bulk of the money will be used for land acquisitions.
Rabobank launched the fund in June 2023. After just over two years, a third of the earmarked money has been distributed to farmers. Approximately 80% of the money is being spent on land purchases for dairy farmers who want to extensify their farms. The remainder is being used for innovations (such as freshwater storage) and new activities (such as organic farming).
Farmers will receive interest and repayment benefits if they qualify for the fund. According to Rabobank, passing the billion-dollar mark demonstrates that farmers aren't waiting to see what's possible.
The funds will not be used to relocate businesses to locations less sensitive to nitrogen. Because Rabobank is the market leader in the agricultural sector in the Netherlands, these figures offer a good indication of the investments. They do not provide a complete picture, however, as some agricultural entrepreneurs finance their business adjustments entirely or partially from their own resources. Poultry and pig farmers, in particular, have made many investments with their own funds in recent years due to the good earnings in those sectors.
Alex Datema, director of Food & Agri at Rabobank, could not determine whether the fund contributes to the ever-increasing land prices in the Netherlands. earlier this year Don't say. "It might have an impact, but we don't assess the applications we finance from the fund any differently than we would with regular financing." Business development is, however, one of the reasons why land prices in the Netherlands are rising.
In addition to the money from the transition fund, Rabobank also finances regular land purchases, where there is little or no intensification, a spokesperson indicated.
Wouter Job
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