Angry Agriculture Collective stops consultation with Schouten

The Agriculture Collective is furious with agriculture minister Carola Schouten. A consultation between the minister and a delegation from the collective today has yielded nothing. In fact, the Agricultural Collective has the feeling that everything in the nitrogen policy has already been pre-cooked and that it has no influence whatsoever on the measures.

The Agricultural Collective therefore suspends consultations with the minister. The association of 13 advocates in the agricultural sector reports in a statement that it is 'seriously disappointed' in the consultations with Schouten. "The cards in The Hague seem to have been shuffled as early as 2019. It doesn't seem like the minister wants to make a strong case for the sector on important points and come up with real solutions. Even in this special period of the corona crisis, where the nitrogen concentration in the air has fallen sharply and food supply is more crucial than ever, the government wants to push through the 2019 agenda."

Two lines in nitrogen policy
The Agricultural Collective notes that the cabinet is following two lines in its nitrogen policy. On the one hand, the Ministry of Agriculture has intensively consulted with the Agricultural Collective about the nitrogen reduction plan formulated by the agricultural sector itself and presented on 20 November 2019. On the other hand, the cabinet is developing its own guidelines with, for example, the Nitrogen Emergency Approach Act, which includes requirements for reducing nitrogen emissions via animal feed.

According to the collective, during the consultations, it appeared that Schouten still wants to introduce low-protein feeds for everyone via this Emergency Act. "And that in the midst of the corona crisis, where farmers and partners in the food chain have something else on their minds and cannot even be properly informed or supported. Not only incomprehensible for us as the Agricultural Collective, but also irresponsible," it emphasizes. covenant. She points out that ideas from the collective on this point, in addition to low-protein feed, for example grazing more and spreading manure mixed with water, are always "legally paralyzed" from the ministry.

No appreciation for effort
The Agricultural Collective also regrets that Schouten's agricultural sector is not appreciated for the efforts the sector is making to limit ammonia emissions. According to the agricultural advocacy groups, the ministry attributes the 1 kT goal of savings imposed by agriculture for this year, which has already been achieved by keeping fewer animals and less protein in the feed, to 'developments that normally already occur'.

The collective also refers to the reorganization scheme for pig farming, which will cause approximately 10% of the number of pig farms to stop. "Ensuring these reductions is made legally impossible," according to the collective. "For example, it is impossible for agriculture to cash in on all its efforts."

Schouten regrets step Agriculture Collective
Minister Schouten says in a statement from the cabinet that he regrets the step taken by the Agricultural Collective. According to her, a lot has been discussed and realized in recent months." "It is especially important now to come to solutions for the nitrogen problem and the future of a strong, economically healthy agricultural sector." She keeps the door open for the collective to talk to each other again.

According to the cabinet, it is in line "as much as possible" with the measures proposed by the Agricultural Collective, such as low-protein feed, more grazing and diluting manure with water. The Ministry of Agriculture also emphasizes that the starting point when buying livestock farms is always voluntary. The external netting of livestock farms will only be made possible if sufficient safeguards have been built in. 

Wildwest in purchase of nitrogen space
The latter is also one of the main points of the Agricultural Collective, which fears a wild west in the purchase of nitrogen space at companies, as the province of Noord-Brabant recently showed. This will erode Dutch livestock farming. According to the collective, the provinces, united in the IPO, have indicated that they first want to discuss this with the agricultural sector. Minister Schouten did promise to arrange a general pardon for the so-called PAS reporters and other companies that wrongly do not yet have a nature permit as soon as possible.

According to the Agricultural Collective, major points of contention also include the retention of the latent space in permits, which is still under discussion. An adequate nitrogen registration system, in which ammonia is separated from nitrogen dioxide, also encounters major objections from the cabinet, according to the collective. And no concrete agreements have yet been made about what the collective describes as "appropriate rewards for the pig farming industry for their nitrogen space supplied from the warm remediation."

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.