Questions about beef cattle rights
Phosphate rights now really tradable
The first transfers of phosphate rights took place on Friday 30 March. That is later than estimated in advance by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl). This was partly due to the lack of clarity about the role that rights play in beef cattle farming. That ambiguity is now gone, isn't it?
"On Friday we sent the Overviews of Registered Phosphate Rights (OGF) of about 50 transfers", says Tom Hoven, spokesperson for RVO.nl. It is the confirmation that the transfers have been processed. "Over 1.000 transfers are planned in the first week of April, of which the OGFs have yet to be sent this week. The oldest reports will be dealt with first."
Delay in processing
At the beginning of the year, RVO.nl still assumed that the transfers would be processed within 8 weeks; this ended up being 14 weeks. One of the stumbling blocks was the uncertainty surrounding the rights for beef cattle farming. Thus it was decided that for all young stock in category 101 and 102 phosphate rights would be needed.
It was something that quickly turned out to have major consequences for beef cattle farming. According to Henk Bleker (Vee & Logistiek Nederland) it is a wonderful sector: "For many, this sector is far too unknown." They were involved, via Vleesvee.nl, together with LTO Nederland and other parties in solving the bottlenecks in beef farming.
On 29 March, Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) presented a helping hand† She announced that there will be an exemption for young stock that will never have a calf and for young stock intended for keepers of suckler cows. Bleker estimates that it takes 2 years to amend the law. In the meantime, he indicates that he is happy with the exemption.
Elaboration scheme
What the scheme will look like will probably become clear before the summer. Bleker is not concerned about reliability. Especially the stories surrounding the registration of cattle (cattle fraud) make this an important point. "The reliability is good. We have the transport of beef cattle to dairy farms under control via a Unique Company Number (UBN)."
Because there is now clarity about the young stock of beef farmers, the trade in phosphate rights can now really take place. Not everyone found one digital signature of RVO.nl sufficient to proceed with the transaction. Especially from the brokers' side, the actual actions by RVO.nl were expected to complete the transaction.
Is everything clear now?
The changes have created new uncertainty, because what will happen to the rights that keepers of young stock have already sold for beef farming? The rights expire. There are therefore critical notes as to why these kinds of questions were not already answered last year. The further response will depend on the effect of the scheme.
Herman van den Pol
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