Lawyer pinched: 'Group can grow to 100+'

The group of dairy farmers who have started proceedings against Rabobank for failing to fulfill their duty of care when providing financing for the abolition of the milk quota can grow to more than 100. That is what Olivier van Hardenbroek, lawyer at Delissen Martens, who represent interests in court.

The lawyer says that the group of 11 is growing, following the publications today (December 12) in various media. According to the lawyer, agricultural advisor Jos Op Heij has fueled the lawsuit and he has more than 100 'trapped cases' in his portfolio. "It is quite possible that they will also report soon."

'Bank must point out risks'
It is difficult to say how strong the dairy farmers are, according to the lawyer. "It is a unique case. After all, it goes quite a long way before a farmer summons his banker. At the same time, I understand that Rabobank is shifting its duty of care from her and is pointing to professional entrepreneurship." However, according to the lawyer, the stocking is not over.

"As a rule, a farmer is a small entrepreneur and then you fall back on small business financing. In that case, a bank is expected to map out the risks. So the bank should have pointed out to the farmer that after quota is likely to introduce new production-limiting measures."

It is also debatable, according to Van Hardenbroek, that the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb) has already ruled that phosphate rights were foreseeable. The CBb judges that farmers 'should have known' that measures were being taken. However, this does not mean that every random farmer actually knew.

Judge may give a decision
â € ‹â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹â€‹You can expect Rabobank to have pointed out the risks to farmers. All the more so because former Rabobank CEO Ruud Huirne said in 2017, during a hearing in the House of Representatives, that he had been aware for 5 years. In short: "We are dealing with legal friction here, about which the judge can give a definitive answer."

The lawyer says that each case is presented separately to the judge, because they are too different to bundle. "The first subpoenas will be issued this week and I expect the first hearings to be held next spring." 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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