News Dairy farm
'Nature-inclusive farmers are not viable now'
Dairy farmers are quite willing to start farming in an environmentally inclusive way. Important changes are needed in the Dutch dairy sector to make nature-inclusive agriculture a viable business model.
This is according to research by Utrecht University. According to the researchers, farmers, food companies and government agencies currently have a major interest in preserving the status quo (read: non-nature-inclusive farmers).
About 10% of Dutch dairy farmers currently operate nature-inclusive. According to the researchers, the main obstacles to conversion seem to lie in a lack of policy guidance (what exactly is nature-inclusive and what are the concrete ambitions?), problems with the development and transfer of knowledge, the difficult market conditions for nature-inclusive farmer products and a lack of personnel. and financial resources.
Uneven playing field
Money is a major bottleneck, the study reports. "In terms of research funding, the overwhelming focus is on conventional farming practices, which hinders knowledge development about innovative agriculture," researcher Dorith Vermunt said in a statement. “The government still promotes the 'high input, high output' agricultural model as a viable option, but the negative effects of this model are not reflected in the final product price. Positive effects on climate, soil and ecosystem are not rewarded.” According to the researchers, this leads to an uneven playing field between conventional agriculture and nature-inclusive agriculture.
Financing more difficult
It is also more difficult for nature-inclusive farmers to obtain financing, because banks are not used to their business models. And as a result, they are inclined not to provide loans to them, the researchers say. They also believe that agricultural education is still strongly focused on conventional farming. "This is partly because students often want to continue the business model they grew up in," said study researcher Niko Wojtynia.
Breaking the status quo
The status quo must be broken, according to the research team, but according to them dairy farmers, food companies and government agencies have a great interest in preserving it. This poses opportunities for further research, the researchers say: "How can we encourage powerful actors in the regime to reinvent themselves?"
Linda van Eekeres
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