Nature and agriculture: difficult marriage

Agriculture and nature. It sometimes seems like a difficult marriage. They have had a solid relationship for centuries, although this sometimes seems like a blinking light relationship. They cannot live without each other, but working together also regularly causes problems. Especially in the spring, when the meadow birds are again fully active in and above the meadows.

The discussion about the decline of the meadow bird population is still ongoing. Is it the predators, is it intensification in agriculture, climate change or is it mainly because we have already lost more than 1950 million hectares of agricultural land since 0,5? Of course I cannot give a ready-made answer to that in this column, although I can name all the facts on the basis of statistics from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

In addition, I can also broadly measure how much land has been withdrawn from agriculture, I can name the predators that have increased considerably in recent years and I can conduct discourses on the behavior of the stork, fox, ermine, polecat, stone marten, buzzard, harrier. , crow and hedgehog.

On the other hand, I can explain how the redshank, black-tailed godwit, lapwing, curlew, oystercatcher and many others meadow birds make an effort to survive. I can also explain how governments and nature organizations are working to protect farmland birds. They are all extremely interesting reflections, but it brings the solution probably not much closer.

Land managers
I think that all land managers (not just farmers) should make every effort to improve the relationship between nature and agriculture. A better relationship mainly means better communication with each other about nature and agricultural goals. Above all, it also means having the courage to make choices.

This may mean that in a specific area you clearly opt for the meadow bird and not for the fox. After all, you need a 'critical mass' of meadow birds to keep this population afloat. A pair of black-tailed godwits almost never manages alone; black-tailed godwits need conspecifics to survive. The meadow birds also need each other to survive. In addition, meadow birds need a vibrant soil, manure and insects to survive, which means they also need variety (mosaic management).

In short: the meadow birds also need the farmers in order to survive. It is crucial to have the guts to make choices. When you choose 'everything' in nature, you actually choose nothing.

Important choices
As a farmer, you can also make choices every spring that help meadow birds move forward. If, for example, farmers in the meadow bird areas lay out more 'puddle marsh', spread rough manure, mow in steps, leave strips with nests and young chicks, engage in pre-grazing and rein in the predators, then the meadow birds will certainly do a lot better.

The nature and agricultural sector still maintain a close relationship and therefore need each other in various areas!

Cor Pierik

Cor Pierik is a spokesperson at Statistics Netherlands (CBS). He mainly writes blogs about current facts and developments in the agricultural sector. Pierik can also be seen regularly in the 'BB Facts' section.

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