The best farming wishes for 2019

The various messages for the new year from The Hague and Wageningen to the agricultural sector contain relatively few surprises.

Both Minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) as Louise Fresh consistently repeat the 'tale of the two cities'. This can be read since September in the ministerial memorandum 'The Netherlands leads the way in circular agriculture: transition to circular agriculture is necessary, urgent and requires innovations and cooperation'.

Broad support
It has become apparent that there is broad support, as the responses to the memorandum show. It means 2019 could be a good year for policymakers. The support for this memorandum is not entirely unexpected, because circular agriculture can (just like many environmental measures) lead to a cost reduction for the agricultural company.

This is also apparent from the business comparisons made in the context of the Vruchtbare Kringloop Achterhoek (VKA) project. That knowledge is now useful and that is why, on the basis of those studies, a brochure drawn up. It contains clear graphs and texts for those interested in the theory.

Package of measures
However, practice will benefit most from the measurements for daily practice. This concerns, for example, measures for cultivation (such as sowing clover) and fertilization measures (such as diluting slurry and the use of spring fertilizers).

VKA provides a good example with this. So now let's continue to clearly formulate best agricultural practices for circular agriculture. There is a need for that now: don't talk, but brush in 2019.

Herre Bartlema

Herre Bartlema is chairman of the NCOK: Netherlands Center for the Development of Circular Precision Agriculture. The aim: to promote the application of practical precision farming techniques to contribute to a clean sector.

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