Apologies Van den Oever with a call to stoppers

Mark van den Oever, chairman of Farmers Defense Force, has apologized for his statements in his Easter letter from last Monday. In it he called quitting farmers who sell nitrogen rights to parties outside the agricultural sector 'Judas and weak links'. He now calls on quitters to offer the nitrogen rights mainly to colleagues.

Van den Oever writes this in a new letter that was published today (Wednesday). In it he states that he realizes that his words have come across to many people "very harsh and inappropriate and have hurt them. That was not my intention and for that I offer my sincere apologies. I should have done that differently and phrased it differently. The circumstance is different and therefore his or her choices. Stoppers can of course receive a fair price for their companies and their rights. We wholeheartedly grant this to our colleagues after a lifetime of hard work."

Nitrogen rights within the sector
The FDF leader explains that he is very concerned if the agricultural sector is not protected against "33.000 non-agricultural companies that will enter the future nitrogen market." The farmers' movement wants to prevent nitrogen rights from being drained from the agricultural sector. FDF is looking at whether this can be stopped legally, but fears that this will be a long, slow procedure. Van den Oever calls on all parties in the sector, such as the supply and processing industry and the banks, to consider how nitrogen rights can remain within the sector.

In his new letter, Van den Oever appeals precisely to the stopping farmer, by mainly selling his nitrogen rights to an agricultural entrepreneur who wants to expand his business. "The nitrogen then remains in the sector and your colleague is helped." If there is a difference in price, spread payments can also be used, he suggests. "Then you divide the income over several years, so that you fall in a lower bracket in terms of taxes."

Depreciation of land
In addition, sellers of nitrogen rights without land must also take into account a decrease in the value of the agricultural land, emphasizes Van den Oever. "If the nitrogen rights leave the sector, your land will be worth less. Perhaps as good as unsaleable, because what can your colleague do with this land without allowing him to expand?" He suspects that the profit that a seller expects to make on the rights is most likely canceled out by a falling land price. 

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