Expansion of dairy herd in nature curbed

what a bullshit, from now on I don't do a cow in the meadow anymore!!!!

The Netherlands you will not let your fertile land be taken away under the guise of (the lied) climate problem, imposed by the UN.
With the aim of complete control over the earth and the people.
google it. un calendar21

Persistent misunderstandings about sustainable agriculture (1)

Keeping cows indoors is better for the environment… by intensifying agriculture we can preserve nature…

If you are once again confronted with one of the above statements, it is important to take a look at the broader picture to see what remains of these statements. prior to that; virtually all research money goes to industrial agriculture, the lobby is dominated by suppliers (fertilizers and chemicals) and the large-scale food industry and retail and there are few really independent media where you get the facts. Behind many programs are financiers/sponsors such as Unilever et cetera. Always good to know when you read or hear something. Follow the money.

That requires quite a lot from people who want to live consciously and actually make sustainable choices. So let's clear up a few misunderstandings.

Truly sustainable agriculture ensures that animals obtain their food as much as possible from nearby areas and from food flows that do not compete or compete as little as possible with food for humans. So cows on grasslands and pigs and chickens on food from the farm and partly on residual flows. This is how agriculture has always been organized. The animal manure was again used for soil fertility and that is how it is still in biodynamic agriculture.

If you want to keep millions of animals without them being 'ground-bound', but dependent on imports of mainly soy from South America, yes, then it might be better to keep them indoors because of the methane emissions, especially if you are going to feed cows a lot of concentrates so that they constantly having diarrhea and farting. But that is a completely unsustainable model anyway. Animals must have their place in the cycle and then you can occasionally eat a piece of meat or use milk and eggs. That is better for the environment and our health. And animals have the right to an animal's existence, so they can graze or graze outside. Thanks to grazing, urine and faeces remain separated, just like in nature, so that less ammonia is released. In other words, real regional circular agriculture and no cycle through animal feed imports via Argentina or Brazil, resulting in a gigantic manure surplus in our country. A problem that is blamed on the community and not on the traders.

Another thing, if we were to farm very intensively, then we would have land left over for nature, according to the self-proclaimed 'eco-modernists'. But in the current weather extremes, the production of organic will equal or even far exceed that of conventional, because only care for biodiversity and soil fertility can maintain production. Long-term comparative field trials between conventional and organic crops proved this. (Rodale Institute farm trials) Artificial fertilizers and deep plowing are becoming exhausted, soil fertility is declining almost everywhere in conventional agriculture. It is therefore indeed about nature-inclusive agriculture, thinking and working as much as possible in cycles at company or regional level and increasing biodiversity and soil fertility through the use of compost and extensive crop rotation with soil-improving crops to increase the resilience of the system. to increase. Unfortunately, there is little to gain from this for suppliers. The money also has to be earned much more on and around the farms.

Next time about the 'frames' made up from the lobby that biologically would not be healthier, technological fairy tales and the world food issue that the Netherlands would take care of.

Bert van Ruitenbeek, director of Demeter, the quality mark for biodynamic agriculture and food


Publication date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019

First the health issue. If someone can explain to me how controlling weeds and insects with chemicals is a healthy approach, I'd love to hear it. The only truly sustainable way is to invest in soil fertility and biodiversity to control pests and diseases and harness the power of nature. This ensures a healthy system that can provide clean water, fresh air, clean earth and vital nutrition. The basis for a liveable environment. But 'health' is often narrowed down to the final product. Can you prove there that it has direct health effects on the basis of ingredients. There are many indications for the latter, but little research has been done so far. For now we can conclude that there are no remnants of substances that we renounce. And especially about the cocktails of toxic substances that we ingest - albeit in low doses - there are many concerns, especially for growing children. The food industry earns money from processed food made from raw materials that are as cheap as possible, not from unsprayed lettuce. But above all, let's understand that health is a much broader concept and that we can only stay healthy in a clean environment. Perhaps we will get more 'technologically' clean greenhouse production, but with cucumbers and tomatoes they mainly produce water and crops with few nutrient-rich and calorie-rich crops, which will have to continue to come from the open ground.

And then the world food issue. That has nothing to do with increasing production in our country. In fact, it has the opposite effect. The point is that an African farmer goes from 2 tons to 4 tons per hectare yield and not that we produce more than 8 tons per hectare and subsequently flood the markets in developing countries. The same applies to our broiler chickens and intensive livestock farming. This requires artifice, with large-scale use of fossil fuels. Producing less meat (and therefore importing much less animal feed) and eating, less waste and, on the contrary, extensification in our country, creates space for agricultural development elsewhere where people need to be fed. For countries with food shortages, it is mainly about improving the position of women, improving infrastructure and helping small farmers with knowledge about soil fertility and credit for investments in seeds, fertilizers and tools. It is also very important that poorer countries are given the space to protect their own market with import duties. So that choices can be made from the ecological and social context instead of from the lobby of multinationals in seeds and chemistry.

Our organic and biodynamic farmers achieve yields that are high enough to switch completely to a plant-based diet in Europe, guarantee food security and also contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and carbon storage in the soils. The main challenge is to feed the 'urban garden' in the Netherlands in a healthy and sustainable way, while preserving nature and landscape, and it will shift from a shareholder economy of multinationals to the direct interests of farmers and citizens in their own country.

Bert van Ruitenbeek, director of Demeter, the quality mark for biodynamic agriculture and food


Publication date: Wed, 02 Oct 2019

Rightly so, the strict regulations! Potdorie, now populist Jaco Geurts is questioning tested measuring methods. Now the image of farmers is getting even worse, because of our non-constructive behaviour. For years we farmers have postponed measures for us and the government has tolerated that behaviour. Now wail! The "proud of farmers" ad from the feed manufacturers was also a big lie. Do we farmers need them, really not. We farmers are compensated by the taxpayers from the Randstad. The feed manufacturers immediately lose turnover when there is a contraction. They want to maintain their business model over our farmers' backs. Pure peasant deceit, and puts us in a bad light. Be an entrepreneur and not a handshake.

Maxwell if you get sick you don't go to the pharmacy either, because then you will die from the chemistry

Well said Bert de Boer. Those large companies have indeed been going over the backs of hard-working farmers for years. They abuse you, as do the Rabobank and the chemical industry. They really have no heart for the farmers, but only for their own revenue model.
Don't let them put you under their belt.
A switch to real sustainable farming solutions is the only way for a better future for farmers and a healthy agriculture and better farmers' incomes. Also better for nature and ALL people.
Do not follow the revolutionary populist behavior of Geurts, Wilders, Lodders or Farmers Defense Force BECAUSE YOU NEVER WIN THAT REVOLUTION!!!!

maxwell back to red geus.

farmers near urbanization do not have safe surface water, because the drugs, CHEMICAL pollution of humans!!!!!!!!!! contaminate the water.

therefore: answer:
when you can live thanks to chemistry, do you take a pill or do you die???????

Maxwell.
Let's point out the various production and respect the entrepreneurs concerned. Do they want BD, regular or otherwise produced food? Leave the choice to the consumer. Our ancestry has developed food production in a certain way in the past. With current knowledge we might have done it differently, but at the time it was considered the most desirable model and we have to respect that too. But look at what is happening at the moment, a lot of attention and measures for soil fertility, less use of chemical crop protection products, use of animal manure maximized, significant decline in livestock since 1984, less fertilizer use, limitation of ammonia emissions, agricultural nature management and stimulation of biodiversity, etc. Organic and regular production methods are approaching each other ever closer. Not everything is possible, but agriculture is renewed like no other and this will be continued in the coming years. For this it is not necessary to further enslave the farmer as was done by the then nobility in the Middle Ages. Encourage the critics of today's agriculture to start their own business. Then they can show in a positive way, without denunciation of the current agricultural method, that they are right or wrong. And, stop pointing fingers. As a regular producer, I don't do that to the BD or organic colleague. But again, let's respect the various modes of production, the most desired form by society will then flourish the most.
Jan Willem Lagerwey.
Suckler cow farmer in combination with agricultural nature management.