Concerns about payment of milk money after March 1

The time is running out to get things right before the elections. Only 2 more weeks until the election recess. In the meantime, there are still many things that need to be arranged. Take, for example, the allocation of phosphate rights before 1 March. Something that can have major consequences.  

During the presentation of the prizes in the Maïschallenge, Jaco Geurts, spokesman for agriculture and horticulture at the CDA, touched on a number of important subjects that still had to be settled before the elections. Perhaps the most important is to call the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) to the room. 

'I hear from the field that things are not going well with the allocation of the phosphate numbers.' This can have major consequences when the sector plan for phosphate reduction comes into effect. This can mean that dairy farmers will miss out on milk money. The problem with this is that the dairy refers dairy farmers to the RVO and the RVO refers to the dairy. It is difficult to estimate the size of the group affected by this, but it is clear that more than a handful of livestock farmers are involved. 

Another point of concern that Geurts mentions is the bottleneck regulation in the phosphate rights. He is absolutely not pleased with the fact that these regulations are being acted so slowly. Van Dam previously announced that he would set up a committee that has yet to be appointed. 'But that won't help dairy farmers in 2017 anymore.'

In a last attempt before the election to get progress in this dossier, Geurts indicates that he wants to use the latest debate on the agriculture and fisheries council to draw attention to the problems again. 

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