'I miss the peasant sound in many reports'

In recent months it has rained reports about where agriculture is headed. Patches of text about the farmer, but remarkably few plans that were drawn up in consultation with the farmer. Boerenbusiness sought out a farmer from the vanguard of the pack: Coen Hagoort, participant in Koeien & Kansen. What solutions does he see?

Coen Hagoort is the sixth generation of a family that has been farming in the Groene Hart for 200 years. He runs a dairy farm with 125 cows on 51 hectares of peat land in Waarder with his wife and four children. As a participant in Koeien & Kansen, he hopes to have some influence on future policy and also to be well informed about the latest developments. "I don't think it makes sense to criticize the government if you don't stick your neck out yourself. Cows & Chances have made it clear to me that efficient mineral utilization is good for the environment but also for the wallet."

As a frontrunner, how do you view the nitrogen targets that the sector is facing?
"Within Koeien & Kansen, we had the goal to reduce nitrogen emissions by thirty to forty percent between 1990 and 2020. That has been achieved on our farms. So there are opportunities, even if the last 10% is more difficult than the first. I grew up in a time when 1.000 kilos of CANS on one hectare was quite normal.That no longer happens, we know that it is not necessary if you can make better use of animal manure.'

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency draws the conclusion that livestock farming is no longer tenable under the current nitrogen standards in some provinces. How do you view that?
"I think that we desperately need every square meter of agricultural land in the Netherlands. Look at the growing world population. This ensures that we have a completely different discussion about food security. It is already clear in the southern European countries that climate change threatens agricultural production. While the Netherlands has the most productive agricultural land."

"I understand that every citizen has the right to a clean living environment, but it remains striking to me that Schiphol or Tata Steel can exist without a NB permit, while farmers must comply with the nature conservation law. Keep in mind that Schiphol indirectly spreads its pollution over the entire area. world, but a farmer's emissions remain largely on his own land."

Yet the PBL report is not necessarily negative about farmers, it finds that a choice for strict nitrogen targets would entail a historically unparalleled transformation of agriculture. Is livestock shrinkage less inevitable than it seems?
"The time of a growing agricultural sector is over, but I am sure that the farmer's right to exist will be seen in a different light if there is a threat of scarcity. I know that we still seem a long way from that, because the Netherlands is the second largest agricultural exporter in the world. But what's wrong with exporting? We also drive cars from Japan, don't we? Let the Dutch farmer do what he is good at and what this country is suitable for."

Isn't that a rearguard action?
"The PBL report states that nitrogen is not at all central to the Birds and Habitats Directives. It is about nature quality and that includes more than just nitrogen. Is there too little biodiversity now? I see a lot of diversity in the verges, the bushes and the ditches here in the polder.The railway line behind it – the route Utrecht-Gouda – is where more than 500 trains pass daily, but on both sides of the track it is an oasis of breeding birds and plants.Nota bene along the busiest stretch of railway in the Netherlands Nature is adapting. Why do we have to go back to nature from 200 years ago? That old peat moss in the Nieuwkoopse Plassen has to be restored, but is that realistic in a country with 17 million people? I don't think so. fit the population density."

The report published by the World Wildlife Fund in April argues in favor of nitrogen pricing, among other things. Is that a good way out of the crisis?
"I would be careful with that. Not every farmer has the same opportunities. I think it only sows division among the farmers."

The nitrogen plan of the farmers around the Nieuwkoopse Plassen, the lease of nitrogen space to industry, is there any perspective for this?
"Minister Schouten is open to it, I think that is telling. I am not part of the pilot myself, but I do think it is creative. I do advocate achieving the reduction at the front of the cow. technical measures, but by grazing for more hours, by mixing water with the manure or by optimizing the protein in the ration.The Veenweiden Proeftuin Veenweiden has already shown that a 22% reduction in ammonia can be achieved. Opportunities We have many years of experience with a ration of a maximum of 155 grams of crude protein per kilo of dry matter. If that applies to the whole of the Netherlands, that would save a lot of emissions. In our case, the emissions are almost halved from an emission factor of 13 to 8 kilos of ammonia per cow per year. The safeguarding of these kinds of measures is still insufficient, but that is the solution."

The plan 'Towards a relaxed Netherlands', by Jan Willem Erisman and Benno Strootman, argues for the reduction of nitrogen to be achieved in an area-oriented manner and to combine various sustainability tasks. The Gelderse Vallei and the Groene Hart then emerge as regions where the decline of the livestock population is the most obvious.
'It cannot be the case that a report affects the raison d'être of thousands of family businesses. You cannot continue to house more people and develop more nature. This is disproportionate to the effort the sector has already made. It was stated sharply in an opinion recently: the car stock has increased forty-fold to almost 50 million cars since the 10s, the number of travelers at Schiphol increased from 11 million people in 1980 to 77 million in 2019 and the number of dairy cows has decreased since 1984. 2,5 million to now 1,5 million. Those numbers say it all. I miss the burping sound in many reports."

How do you expect your business operations to respond to the various challenges that lie ahead?
"Here in the Groene Hart, the climate challenge is mainly due to the subsidence. We are experimenting with underwater drainage. I also had 7 hectares drained 4 years ago. It was the wettest plot and I notice that the carrying capacity has improved slightly. a great opportunity to give a positive boost to the region. Although we do not know whether this is the egg of Columbus. For preserving the peat, rewetting is probably the solution."

"As mentioned, we achieve the nitrogen reduction through a lower-protein ration, water in the manure and by grazing as much as possible, also at night. In the phosphate discussion, thanks to Koeien & Kansen, we have come to the insight that balanced fertilization is beneficial. If we replace it with extra animal manure, we can supplement the phosphate extraction by the crop. This saves on fertilizer and prevents shortages of phosphate."

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