School youth demonstrate, agriculture act

Students from all over the country will travel to The Hague on Thursday 7 February to jointly express their concern about global warming. The initiative is a result of original thinking in combination with copying behaviour. 

Original thinking and copying are things that educators can enjoy every day, but so are policy makers and the public in our center of government. The demonstrating students fear that the measures needed to save the climate are being taken too late. That is why they urge urgency in climate policy.

Press the boiler
Many adults share the fears of students. It is a large program in which many parties are involved. Experience also shows that the implementation of large projects takes a lot of time: an example is the North/South line in Amsterdam. That's why, if it's up to me, pressure on the kettle won't hurt.

The agricultural sector need not feel addressed in the matter. The entrepreneurs in our sector have become well aware of the urgency of the problem (due to the erratic course of the growing seasons in recent decades). After the 'Clean and Efficient Agrosectors Sector Covenant' in 2008 (more than 10 years ago), much has been done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Fertilizer reduction
The most striking, and at the same time the most effective development, concerns the reduction in the use of nitrogen fertilizers. This is a reduction of more than 50% compared to the reference year 1990. If this trend continues, combined with the 50% reduction in concentrate consumption in dairy farming, the sector will easily be able to reduce the emission of 3,5 million tons of CO₂ per year, as provided for in the climate agreement.

Reports in the trade press provide proof of this progress almost every day, mainly through making Dutch agricultural companies more sustainable. The interest in the certification program 'On the way to PlanetProof' on the part of dairy farming is a recent example of this.

Don't talk, just brush
The best proof will be delivered on Thursday 7 February. Then not in The Hague, but in Nijkerk. Information is given there all day long about the best agricultural practices for circular agriculture in dairy farming. In the morning, precision fertilization, modern grass cultivation and soil pressure reduction are discussed.

In the afternoon, the Grass and Fodder Fertilization Committee will present the latest fertilization recommendations for extracting as much top-quality roughage as possible. School youth demonstrate for it, the agricultural sector is working on it. Don't talk, just brush. The sector does what it promises.

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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