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The agricultural sector needs direction. And appreciation!
The agricultural sector was anxiously awaiting the third Tuesday of September. In the Speech from the Throne, farmers and those involved would receive the much desired clarity about the policy plans that the government had in store for agriculture. We were equally curious about the budget proposals to substantiate those plans. The disappointment was great. Agriculture was not addressed. Even worse: neither do the farmers.
Needless to say, this is a missed opportunity. Farmers have felt abandoned for a long time. As a result, the distance to 'politics' is only increasing. With the election of Donald Trump in America, we see very clearly the consequences of neglecting agricultural interests.
On 17 November, those involved - from banks to farmers' organizations and the State Secretary - held emergency consultations during a so-called derogation summit. The outcome was not encouraging: if Dutch farmers do not qualify for the extended granting of the exceptional position (the so-called derogation), it will cost the farmers a lot of money. By further limiting the spreading of manure, fewer cows can be kept. The result: a lower income.
The task of developing a plan to reduce the number of cows in the short term will certainly not go down well in the sector. The joy about the abolition of the milk quota had already been tempered after all the new regulations, especially when the then State Secretary unveiled the plan for phosphate rights on 2 July 2015. But this proposal - in which farmers would in any case still be entitled to produce certain quantities of manure according to clear rules - was rejected by Brussels; there would be state aid. Many farmers have already bought a large number of cows to compensate for the low milk prices through company growth! Because the more cows, the more milk, the higher the cash flow. Provided there is space in the stable and on the available land!
Too many rules
And so the government is constantly coming up with new rules and increasing costs for the sector. It is not for nothing that a farmer's wife called the State Secretary to account in Nieuwsuur because her company, which has been in her family for more than 200 years, is in danger of going under? Why is there no attention for the difficult circumstances in which the agricultural sector has to carry out its work? Why was the Ministry of Agriculture abolished? It doesn't get any more believable than that. The call for more involvement between politics and the agricultural sector is not being heard, according to an endless list of regulations and discussions in recent years. Phosphate reference, discussion about land-relatedness, dairy law, abolition of the milk quota, revaluation of agricultural land, abolition of red diesel, abolition of the agricultural sales tax scheme, Natura1 and PAS as of 2018 January 2000, and to top it all off, the introduction of phosphate rights and the inexplicable way this arrangement has been put on hold. The abolition of the 'derogation' is spoken of as if no one has an interest in retaining the exemption.
Direction necessary
The sector is facing so much regulation and legislation that farmers can hardly make policy on it. What we need is direction! And an understandable overview of the possibilities for farmers. And above all: appreciation for the agricultural sector. Our Dutch farmers simply deserved that.
Lourens van der Lely
member of the Board of Directors and the Agricultural Real Estate Section
