Background nitrogen mood
Always a nitrogen stick to hit the farmer with
It's that time of year again when the heather blooms a beautiful purple, but there are also a lot of grasses and shrubs on the heath. According to many national newspapers, glossy magazines, and online reports, this is a result of too much nitrogen. Nitrogen also seriously damages butterfly populations, as we heard earlier this year, but that was mainly based on counts from 2024. However, the Butterfly Foundation recently reported that the current pesticide pressure is also very extreme.
The Dutch agricultural sector seems to have a lot of explaining to do. Unfortunately, there's also a lot to explain to those who are easily fooled by cheap framing, deliberate deception, and the omission of relevant facts. Just to start.
Wolf and complaining citizen cause heath to become overgrown with grass
Heathland in the Netherlands is largely a cultivated landscape. The vast purple expanses of heathland are practically impossible without flocks of sheep (which graze them) or periodic mechanical sod cutting. Otherwise, they become overgrown. However, sheep flocks in heathlands are increasingly struggling due to complaints from citizens (for example, in Elspeet) and – not to forget – the wolf. Counts of consumed game are nonexistent, but there are counts of other animals, and sheep are at the top of the menu. Mechanical sod cutting is expensive and polluting, although nitrogen emissions are apparently not included in official statistics for "nature restoration."
Butterfly Foundation can't count
The insect population doesn't seem to be developing well, but it also fluctuates with the years. This is due to temperature, humidity, and other factors. Last year, for example, the butterfly population suffered greatly from the cold and wet spring, but nitrogen was largely attributed. This year, it's doing much better. That a club like the Butterfly Foundation It's striking that the foundation is now releasing such an alarming report. At first glance, the findings seem downright alarming, but a closer look reveals the foundation is tripping over itself: calculation factors have been mixed up, tested substances appear to have been selectively chosen (and omitted), and all sorts of claims are being made about areas that haven't been investigated.
NGO is no-go
When the Agrifacts Foundation When questions were raised about this, the report was first quietly amended and then removed from the website. Then came the news that the author had allegedly been threatened. Such a thing is reprehensible, but such a signal can't be the end of all discussion. Nevertheless, an acknowledgement of errors remains elusive. Anyone who thought a national newspaper or other broad media outlet would now pose critical questions to the Butterfly Foundation will be disappointed. An NGO is apparently a no-go.
And if there is no grassy heathland - thanks to neglected management, and no butterfly alarm on dubious grounds - then there are always other Job's news stories in the arsenal to feed the uninquisitive news distributor and his clientele.
Tier 1 keeps cow in stable
For example, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) published a report with neatly justified figures about the rapidly declining grazing, complete with graphs and bar charts. Shame on you, farmer, wrong again! Unfortunately, barely a word was devoted to the reasoning behind this. It is that due to the current focus on CO2 reduction in the dairy industry, it is becoming increasingly less attractive to let cows graze. For those familiar with the jargon: it is disastrous for theTier-1 emissions'. As a result, the CO2 picture is no longer accurate, and the farmer receives less milk money. The bank isn't happy about that either.
Wrong sector must deliver
Sometimes the impression arises that – according to the prevailing media and NGO narratives – the entire agricultural sector must be rotten, especially in the Netherlands. There's a nitrogen stick for every day, and besides that, there's plenty wrong with it. But meanwhile, the modern consumer, who has to maintain his or her weight with Ozempic, wants a quick fix every now and then. high protein dose, increasingly at the command of a fashionable glucose tracker (once intended for diabetes patients, but now a trendy gadget). Nutrition doesn't always have to be plant-based to be, but always available.
It remains to be seen how many of the aforementioned frustrations and desires will be reflected in the various election manifestos of the national parties. Normal political life remains at a standstill. The cabinet is slowly starting to get back to business, but the next meeting of the Schoof Committee (MCEN) has reportedly been postponed again. It will be a major undertaking to finalize all the plans and budgets for Budget Day.
Political disputes and transfers
Meanwhile, the parliamentary elections at the end of October are not only shaking up election platforms, but things certainly don't look good for agriculture. Tensions are arising within parties, for example, at DENK, where the party is in conflict with the party leadership, and at the Party for the Animals, which is being flanked by a kind of revived Party for the Animals. There are also turmoil within the VVD, where party leader Dilan Yesilgöz is facing poor polls. There are also transfers of sitting MPs: for example, from NSC to JA21 and BBB. Even potential candidates, whether real or perceived, are being canvassed for a spot on the list. For example, the current chair of the NAJK, who has never been caught doing anything out of the ordinary, is said to have been approached by the CDA. Incidentally, that party has suddenly been doing very well in the polls in recent weeks, but is also increasingly less of a farmers' or rural party.
From shrinkage to conservation
Another transfer is that of Erwin Wunnekink, chairman of the LTO dairy farming sector association, to Nevedi, the umbrella organization for the animal feed sector. As director, he will have to present a different message there than he did at LTO. Although his influence on LTO's policy appears to be limited, he advocated for the sector's downsizing there—whether under pressure from the collective or not. Nevedi is less enthusiastic about this, at least not so far. However, it does align with the vision of his previous employer. FrieslandCampina also does not support a shrinking livestock population.
Klaas van der Horst
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