ZLTO sees nothing in apk for livestock stables

The proposal of the Brabant deputy Anne-Marie Spierings (D66), for an MOT for livestock stables, has not gone down well with farmers' representative ZLTO. The organization speaks of the umpteenth environmental measure on an endless list.

With an MOT for livestock stables, the province of Noord-Brabant hopes that stables will meet the most modern environmental requirements more quickly, initiator Spierings wrote to the Provincial Council last week. Spierings sees the inspection as a lock behind the door for farmers who are lagging behind in modernizing their barn.

unreal offer
Like Spierings, ZLTO says it strives for better stables. Yet the organization sees nothing in Spierings' proposal. An MOT for stables sees the advocate as an outgrowth of a stalled permit system. According to ZLTO, the measures proposed by Spierings only encourage economies of scale.

ZLTO driver Janus Scheepers compares the greening measures in Brabant with the purchase of a new car that has not passed the MOT inspection after 3 years. Then the owner is forced to make a choice; or buy a new car, or have the engine replaced. Farmers are in such a scenario, only in stables in which often hundreds of thousands of euros have already been invested.

New system
Through Scheepers, ZLTO is therefore calling on the province to stop producing new rules, because many livestock farmers are still recovering from the previous package of measures. Instead of coming up with extra rules, ZLTO argues for a new system that is in line with the new environmental law; a system with reasonable transition periods that are in line with the process of depreciation and financing. And what farmers charge based on the emissions actually produced.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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