'Phosphate decision is not too bad for me'

In the first 2 weeks of January, dairy farmers in the Netherlands received the decision for the phosphate rights system. Also Benny Jongbloed from Wirdum (Friesland) who, together with his son Hedzer, made a restart in 2015, just before the abolition of the milk quota.

Main photo: Benny Jongbloed (left) with his son Hedzer (right).

How does the decision work out for you?
"I am 100% happy. We have been granted rights to keep more than 147 LU. I had expected an 8,3% discount, but we were designated as land-bound on the reference date. That is a windfall on the 57 hectares of land that we are now using. That way we stand out quite well. Previously we had an extra 10 hectares in use. That must be the reason that we just came out on the right side of the line."

Does this decision mean that you will keep more animals?
"We do have a building permit, but in 2015 we thought that step was too big. To be honest, that is still the case now. Our milk goes to A-ware and they pay €39,50 per 100 kilos of milk in January. Dairy is however talking the price down. If we have to milk for less than €30 per 100 kilos again soon, I don't want to make an investment. In addition, we farm close to Leeuwarden and this area has been signed up for the development of solar meadows. We don't know anything about it, but that also makes us a bit cautious."

And the milk production per cow, are you going to 'play' with that?
"The 147 LU is based on an average milk production of approximately 8.200 to 8.500 kilos per cow. We are now at that level, but I think that production can go up to 9.000 kilos. In that case, converted to kilos of phosphate, we may have 140 cows The question is whether that is interesting. I believe more in keeping the components high. With us they are now at 4,60% fat and 3,60% protein. That is a nice plus."

How do you currently deal with the land-relatedness and fertilizer disposal obligation?
"At the moment we are not land-bound. We sell part of the manure through a farmer-farmer agreement. We do this with a sheep farmer who also has land and grazes part of his herd on our land in winter. works fine. In recent years there has also been a lot of talk about including feed-manure contracts within the soil-related nature. I strongly doubt whether that will work, but that would suit us even better."

You buy all the cattle and don't keep young stock, do you want to change that?
"We want to keep our own young stock again in the near future. Whether at home, for which we then have to build, or through a permanent breeder. The choice of how to arrange this partly depends on the phosphate rights. We find purchasing dairy cattle too difficult. Only at a stopper can you pick really good animals, but then you pay the top prize. If you can occupy them at all.Large farmers often buy the livestock of such a stopper in 1 go and then dairy farmers like us fish behind it net. We now purchase livestock through traders from the Netherlands and abroad. We pay between €1.300 and €1.500 for pregnant heifers. I expect the price to rise even higher in the coming years. Many colleagues keep tight young stock within the phosphate rights system, further increasing demand."

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