Keep courage farmers, in 30 years the appreciation will come

I was surprised to read D66's solution to the nitrogen problem. Eliminate half of the Dutch poultry and pig stock and the nitrogen problem is solved. How simple, says Mr Tjeerd de Groot of D66. It only costs 1% of the economy.

I find it very sad that politicians in The Hague have so little knowledge. That there is someone who makes these kinds of statements. After all, agriculture accounts for more than 20% of Dutch exports. If you cut this drastically, the damage in the entire agricultural chain is much greater than the 1% of the economy that De Groot has created.

By the way, what is his story that 70% of emissions from the agricultural sector are based on? Nitrogen consists for 66% of NOx (industry and traffic) and for 33% of NH3 (humans and animals, consisting of cows, chickens, pigs, pets, animals in the wild and the fertilizer industry). A very different number than 70%. It is nice to know that nitrogen emissions from Dutch agriculture have fallen by 1990% ​​from 65 to the present.

Buying all nitrogen
If politicians deal with the nitrogen rules in this way, the aircraft industry, housing, traffic and industry will buy up all nitrogen from the farmers in no time. Resulting in the end of Dutch agriculture. This results in greater environmental damage than the grass that will soon no longer have a destination in the Netherlands. Now the grass growth results in a large uptake of CO₂, because grass is always harvested by the farmer and therefore provides a lot of oxygen. Politicians do not take these numbers into account. incomprehensible.

An enormous mountain of waste is also created, because the Dutch livestock eat our waste (for example soy meal, beet pulp and palm oil kernels). The Dutch agricultural sector must be nurtured if we want to feed the strong population increase on the globe in the future. No other country in the world is as suitable for food production as the Netherlands. We are the second largest food exporter in the world after America. We should be proud of this.

Food production compensation
D66's plan, in addition to the unemployment it will result in, could lead to a global famine. If the Netherlands falls back in food production, which country can compensate? No other country. One thing is certain: D1 does not understand what agriculture is and thinks - I believe - that food falls from the sky.

De Groot of D66 says something that is not based on anything. Politicians say again and again: only promote vegetable production of food. So you see that politicians know nothing about farming. Only small parts of the globe are suitable for vegetable production. Most areas are too dry, contain too many rocks, are barren, too steep, too wet or have too little bearing capacity.

Cattle can still graze in all these areas: from 1 cow or reindeer per 15 hectares to up to 4 animals per hectare. The latter is possible in the Netherlands, given the growth potential of the grass. Only from an environmental point of view this is not allowed by the government. Humans are omnivorous and naturally eat meat and plants. So animal husbandry, in addition to crop production, is necessary to feed humans. It is time for politicians to think ahead longer than their noses are long.

Food will become increasingly scarce in the future. No other country grows food with such a low environmental impact as the Dutch farmer. Now think about politics. Make sure that we citizens have our recycling pointer closed. Only allow products that are 100% biodegradable. Load everything the same way. Air traffic and shipping are virtually unburdened, while they are the major polluters.

Farmer increasingly threatened
The farmer in our society is increasingly threatened by politics (out of ignorance, lack of knowledge and influence by scientists and nature organizations). The louder they say that things are going badly with the environment and plant diversity, the more subsidy and land they receive from the government (their revenue model). The same goes for science: the worse it is with the environment, the more money it receives for research (including their revenue model).

The farmer is a willing victim and yet says nothing in return. Because the media only bring the negative news, they influence society. This is so bad that environmental activists are emerging who threaten the farming families. Education, too, is already beginning to influence children with not eating meat.

The Chinese and some wealthy Arabs do have a vision for the future. They are already buying up large farms all over the world. They understand that in the future there will be no oil crises, but water and food crises. So farmers: keep your spirits up. In 30 years you will be appreciated again, because then we too will have a famine. It does not surprise me if we then reclaim the nature reserves in our country for agricultural purposes. Hunger breaks laws.

Jaap Major
Low Zuthem

Boerenbusiness

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