What's next for agriculture?

I am deeply concerned about the future of our farmers and the approximately 435.000 people who work for suppliers and processors of our agricultural products. After all, when farmers have to leave the Netherlands, many suppliers, transport, service providers and processors also find themselves out of work.

In view of the changing policy of political The Hague, the question for the entire agricultural sector is whether they should still invest in innovations and renewals, because they may not be recouped. As a result, further development comes to a standstill. If the government wants to aim for less environmental impact, it should certainly not allow this to happen.

Below are a few bottlenecks:

1. Nitrogen deposition from abroad
The CPB says that the desired nitrogen deposition can never be achieved for many Natura 2000 areas. This is because the nitrogen deposition from abroad is already higher than the targets here. Where does it end then? Do all citizens, farmers, industry and traffic have to leave the Netherlands? Or do you have to think carefully about how realistic the objectives are?

2. Cutting down tropical rainforest for animal feed
The fact that tropical rainforests are being cut down for animal feed is a complete misrepresentation of the facts. For the production of animal feed, a great deal of residues, which are left over from production for human consumption, are used. Think of soybean oil, and don't forget the bio-fuels. You can therefore not only attribute the felling of tropical rainforests to agriculture.

3. Import and export of agricultural products
We are far from self-sufficient in the production of our food. Dutch agriculture is not suitable for bulk production, such as grain, maize and soy. Our land costs a multiple of what land costs abroad. Due to our maritime climate, the machines can also be used much less efficiently than in countries with a continental climate. After all, we cannot continue with the harvest tomorrow, because it often rains again tomorrow. Get an expensive combine harvester. In the Netherlands, most combine harvesters run less than 100 threshing hours per year, while abroad they run more than 1200 threshing hours per year due to the much drier conditions.

Most of our plots are also much too small and therefore much more expensive to work. Foreign countries produce grains for a cost of 10 cents, at a cost of 50 cents with us. We don't do mass production in the Netherlands either, but in China, because the cost price is much lower there. That is how you should see it in agriculture. What we are good at is growing crops that are labour-intensive and small-scale, that require a lot of water and require a well-tilled fertile soil.

In order to grow well, these crops also have a greater nitrogen requirement. Examples are: potatoes, beets, coarse horticulture, vegetables and especially grasses. These grasses are of such high quality, often combined with clovers and herbs, that our farmers easily harvest these crops 7 times a year and can produce more than 20.000 liters of milk per hectare.

They then supply the excess manure to the land of arable farmers, so that their crops also grow optimally. With this combination of labour-intensive small-scale crops and dairy products we can compete on the world market and we export them abroad, because these products have a higher cost price abroad. We import the bulk products that our farmers cannot compete with. We call this a healthy responsible economy.

4. Soil Depletion
What is the claim that the soil is being exhausted? The farmer is doing everything he can to be careful with his land. He grows a succeeding crop after the main crop, so that the organic matter is maintained. More and more non-inversion tillage is being applied. Air pressure exchange systems on the machines are increasingly used to prevent damage to the soil structure. A soil that is not in top condition will give you insufficient yield as a farmer and you will go bankrupt.

5. Animal production is waste
Time and again it is mentioned that animal production is only a waste of food. When we look at the Earth, most of it is water. If you look at the mainland, you have to subdivide it into forests, buildings, deserts, swamps, mountains, fertile and barren areas with or without water and natural areas. For example, three quarters of our earth is immediately discarded to farm.

Only the fertile and barren parts remain for possible agriculture or nature. In the infertile areas only grasses and/or trees want to grow and they are therefore not suitable for vegetable production (arable farming). The fertile areas must be subdivided into tillable soil and less well tillable soil (for example, too many stones, too steep, too wet with no bearing capacity). Only those fertile soils with sufficient rainfall, which are easy to work with, are suitable for arable farming. Grassland, on the other hand, is possible in all areas.

In the Netherlands, many areas are too wet with too little carrying capacity for arable farming, but are therefore extremely suitable for grassland due to the high rainfall and fertile soil. Because so many areas in the world are unsuitable for arable farming, a food shortage will immediately arise with only vegetable cultivation. After all, all land that is suitable for arable farming is already being used for arable farming. After all, arable farming generates more money than livestock farming. Just look at the land prices. Arable land is much more expensive than land that is not suitable for arable farming.

6. Disproportionately heavy burdens and demands on our agriculture
Foreign countries impose far fewer rules and requirements on their agriculture. There is no harmonization within the European Union alone. This creates unfair competition from abroad. They can produce cheaper, but they are much more harmful to the environment and worse for our health. As a result, our farmers are structurally underpaid for their services. And, if this isn't enough, these products from abroad are next to our own products, which meet the highest standards in the world, on the supermarket shelf; without any explanation what the differences are.

7. Green Energy
Then the energy transition. Politicians have no plan as to how it will be implemented. All fossil fuels must be replaced by electricity. This means an increase in the capacity of our electricity grid with at least 10 times as much capacity. If we want to realize this, a lot of good, scarce land will have to be sacrificed for this. Wouldn't it be better to think about this first.

Some possible solutions:

• Nuclear power stations, but nuclear power stations that do not produce waste and are not dangerous. These nuclear power plants may well be the Thorium power plants. They are in their infancy and our politicians should invest money to develop them further. Here too the following applies: who is going to put money into it? If the political field changes again, all investments will be wasted. As a result, the business community does not dare to invest further in development.
• Using mirrors in the deserts to convert heat into energy, to make hydrogen there. Hydrogen is easy to transport and can be transported in our existing gas network with a small adjustment. We supply the residents with food in exchange for hydrogen. They have no famine and we get energy; a win-win situation. In this way, we also do not create a future mountain of waste from solar panels, which are very difficult to recycle and cause major pollution of the environment in the event of a fire. Our land is far too scarce to sacrifice for solar parks.

8. Agriculture negative in media
Agriculture is often talked about negatively in the media. This is in contrast to the nature organizations. Only in common will a solution be found that can settle the contradictions.

9. Agricultural products are basic necessities that we humans cannot do without
We should cherish the agriculture that we have at our disposal in this fertile delta of the world. The high quality here means that in order to achieve the same yields elsewhere, a multiple of the surface has to be used. If you look beyond the Dutch border, you will see how unwise the decision is to drive out the Dutch farmer. Nature will deteriorate much more worldwide and the decision will cause additional global warming.

10. The Economic Value of Agriculture
Little needs to be explained about the economy. With less agriculture there will be a big hole in the treasury. Agriculture also understands very well that something must be done about the environment and is therefore working on all kinds of processes to reduce the burden on our environment.

Some solutions being worked on are:

• Crop protection through plant recognition. The first prototype machines are now on trial. The machine knows which plants are unwanted and then only fights the unwanted plants. The rest of the plot is then no longer sprayed. The result: an enormous decrease in the use of pesticides.
• Through satellite and drone images, any disease outbreaks of crops are detected in advance, so that the crops are no longer sprayed full-field as a precaution. That also means an enormous decrease in plant protection products.
• Manure processing and separation of solid and liquid manure. This will greatly reduce the use of fertilizers and make even better use of nitrogen.
• Better CO2 absorption by crops, so that the soil captures more carbon and thus captures CO02.
• Better use of rainwater on the farmlands; retain in drought and absorb more during a wet period.
• Preventing a much better use of minerals and wastage of raw materials through precision agriculture.
• Increasingly, agricultural products are being used as sustainable raw materials for industry. After all, an agricultural crop grows again every year.
• Alternative crops to grow the necessary protein yourself.
• Reducing CO2 emissions by growing elephant grass. This crop absorbs much more CO2 than any other type of plant or forest. It can be used to press briquettes to feed the biogas plants. Even when burned, this crop absorbs more CO2 than the power stations emit. Also suitable for paper and chipboards.
• Addition of minerals to the concentrate, so that much less soy is needed.

All these developments cost time and money. That is why we need a clear long-term vision from our government to be able to recoup these investments. Let it be clear: agriculture cannot be turned around and all problems are solved. But if politicians give the agricultural sector time and cooperate financially, the solution will come.

Jaap Major
Low Zuthem

Boerenbusiness

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