News Phosphate rights
Organic farmers make ultimate phosphate attempt at Schouten
On Tuesday afternoon, June 4, the organic dairy farmers again submitted a request to Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) for an exemption from phosphate rights for the latent space. About 1 year ago, Schouten was not prepared for this. "Our opportunities have increased," assures Roel Oostra, the spokesperson for the SOS organic farmers foundation.
"The moment to submit this request was perfect. Because the Senate on Tuesday 4 June debated and voted there was a lot of commotion in The Hague about phosphate rights," says Oostra, who defends the interests of 50 to 100 organic dairy farmers. The goal of the SOS-bioboeren foundation is an exemption for the latent space. According to Oostra, this request is well substantiated. " We offered Schouten and Marjolein Sonnema, the director-general of Agro and Nature at the ministry, a package of 3 centimeters thick and they received it with great interest."
'We have forgotten'
In this request, the organic dairy farmers put forward various arguments as to why they believe they should be granted an exemption. One of the motivations is that organic dairy farming does not see itself as the cause of the phosphate surplus. Organic dairy farmers also benefit from the derogation, because an organic farmer is not allowed to spread more than 170 kilos of nitrogen per hectare in any case.
In addition, organic dairy farmers cannot simply grow, says Oostra. "There is hardly any organic (young) cattle for sale." This foundation is supported by environmental organization Greenpeace. Greenpeace has submitted a Wob request, which shows that the design of the phosphate rights system has never mentioned organic dairy farming. "So we have literally been forgotten, which is why we are now in a bad state."
Oostra owns an organic dairy farm in Jellum, Friesland. He currently milks 100 cows, but was allocated phosphate rights for approximately 70 cows. He leases the rest. "Otherwise we would have to shrink from 1,6 cows per hectare to 1,1 cows and that simply cannot be done." In addition, Oostra wants to have the stables full so as not to be screwed in the future if the government again grants animal rights on a reference date from the past. "So everything we earn is used to finance lease rights."
Opportunities increased
About 1 year ago, organic dairy farmers also knocked on Schouten's door for exemption, but then they were unsuccessful. Oostra thinks that the opportunities for organic dairy farmers have increased considerably in the meantime. This is because they have been told from Brussels that Minister Schouten may make an exception for organic dairy farmers, because those farmers are already applying the principles of circular agriculture to their farms.
In addition, the organic dairy farmers have made the arguments clearer. "Last year we tried to convince the minister with 1 A4 sheet, but this time we offered a thick package. And this package is legally well-founded." Oostra hopes that the minister will take the arguments to heart. "The fate of us is in the hands of the minister."
Generic discount
Oostra does see possibilities for the exemption for the latent space, because there are relatively few rights involved. However, this does not alter the fact that Minister Schouten has to get the rights from somewhere if she wants to meet the call. The shoe pinches at that point, because there are already too many phosphate rights granted† Oostra sees opportunities for creating phosphate space by means of a generic discount at conventional dairy farmers.
"For the phosphate space we need, that would mean a discount of less than 0,09%", Oostra calculates. "This concerns 50 to 100 organic dairy farmers, compared to approximately 17.000. The organic dairy farmer is aware that the generic discount is extremely sensitive for conventional dairy farmers. Completely exempting phosphate rights is not an option for organic dairy farmers," says Oostra. "The rights that a tenant farmer has in their hands, for example, are partly owned by the lessor."
Legal action
Oostra hopes for a commitment from the minister, so that the biological bottlenecks have a future again. If not, the foundation will take legal action. They are also supported in this by Greenpeace, which has awarded a check for €7.750 if it turns out to be a lawsuit. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that and that Schouten comes to meet us."
Wouter Job
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