Inside: Dairy Market
65 percent challenge on sandy soil
The binding advice of the Soil Reliance Committee, which focuses on a protein standard, appears to have major consequences for dairy farmers on sandy soils. It also appears to be careful when using the neighbor's land. For the intensive livestock farmer, the consequences are even greater. It is not yet known what the agenda for the rollout of the advice will look like.
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LTO Netherlands, ZLTO and the Dutch Dairy Organization (NZO) are busy informing supporters about the binding advice on land-relatedness. In practice, few dairy farmers appear to have calculated what it could mean for their company. Those who have done so do not always appear to obtain 65% of the protein requirement from their own soil.
Sand a challenge
An example is Jos Verstraten, chairman of ZLTO. He indicates that he manages to obtain 32% of the protein requirement from his own country. He is a dairy farmer who farms on sandy soil, one of the locations where it will be a challenge to achieve 65% protein.
To achieve this goal, various options are mentioned (such as field beans and the cultivation of soybeans). Another way to achieve the goal (provided that 50% of the protein comes from your own land) is to use your neighbor's land. This is under the neighborhood contract. However, in the first instance this may only be land owned by active farmers.
Verstraten states that it is not required that the land be owned by an active farmer. This should be arranged via a user agreement. This is different for a non-active farmer. The Commission would like to see this arranged via the Combined Task, but to achieve this, the necessary intermediate steps are still required.
In concrete terms, this means that if the neighborhood contracts are introduced quickly, they will initially only be able to rely on active farmers. However, a method is being developed to make more land accessible from other parties.
Milk money discount?
However, the biggest challenge arises for the intensive livestock farmer. “We have to give substance to this,” says Verstraten. He also mentions the timeframe. That needs to be looked at. To steer intensive farms in the right direction, ZLTO mentions a discount on the milk money. This is done via the delivery conditions for milk.
However, inquiries with the NZO show that it is still too early to say anything about this. The intermediate steps are first examined to implement the advice. It is also still unknown what the further rollout of the plans will look like.
Organic livestock farmer not happy
In the meantime, organic dairy farmers have already indicated that they are not happy with the definition. Especially because they are not allowed to use artificial fertilizer and therefore cannot meet the protein requirement. The Dutch Dairy Farmers' Union (NMV) still has to calculate it, but is happy with the dot on the horizon.