The removal of more flexible European fertilizer regulations will create big problems for many companies next year. The majority of the House of Representatives expects this. Outgoing Agriculture Minister Adema agrees. Stricter fertilizer regulations are intended to lead to better water quality in rivers and groundwater.
Protesting farmers came to a small protest in the House of Representatives today regarding the agriculture debate. They also showed their dissatisfaction with tractors in other parts of the country.
Companies will need to do something about excess fertilizer next year due to the removal of the so-called exemption for livestock farmers. It cannot be distributed throughout the country but must be collected and processed. And that costs money.
CDA MP Eline Vedder says young farmers do not have this money because their farms have high mortgages. She runs a dairy farm with her husband. “How am I going to pay all the bills next year? I’m hearing it from my own kitchen table.”
Adema warns that it will be even more difficult to completely lift the exemption after next year. If the Netherlands does not comply, stricter rules will apply. “And then the farmers are in trouble, so to speak, they are already in trouble.” Adema will begin negotiations with banks to give young companies more time to avoid bankruptcy.
“Talk about shit. This really bothers me,” said Christian Union MP Pieter Grinwis. “We still see manure as shit. “This should not be about fertilizer policy as waste policy, but about food for healthy soil and healthy plants.”
New MPs from NSC, PVV and BBB want to try to regulate fertilizer and nitrogen policies. However, they face the same problem as the previous House of Representatives: that EU rules are determined by the Dutch nature. This means fewer animals.
This morning several farmers gathered at the House of Representatives building. Then they sat in the stands. They are pinning their hopes on the PVV, NSC and BBB promising to do things differently:
As of this week, 1,240 farmers have signed up for nitrogen programs in a voluntary shutdown. The interest is above expectations. For this reason, the government allocates an additional 1.5 billion euros. This money is in addition to the existing budget of 1.5 billion euros.
It remains to be seen whether these companies will actually stop. “There is definitely interest,” said outgoing Nature and Nitrogen Minister Van der Wal. The programs will remain open for a few more months.
Most likely, additional money will also be provided to “green farmers” participating in the EU’s organic programme. Farmers can collect points if their companies achieve their targets in the areas of biodiversity, soil and air, climate, landscape and water. You then receive a certain amount of land per hectare.
More farmers than expected have signed up for it, meaning the €152 million European fund is not enough. The government itself wants to supplement this amount with money allocated for the nitrogen policy. It will become clear in January whether the EU will accept this.
MP Laura Bromet from GL-PvdA is unhappy that the nitrogen debate has started “again” with the new House of Representatives. He thinks the centre-back arrangements make a lot of sense.
“Bookstores and video chains would all want to get 120 percent of their business value if their markets crashed,” Bromet said. “I come from a family of documentary filmmakers who had to look for something else after blackouts in public broadcasting.”
Van der Wal admits that he sometimes talks to entrepreneurs who want to get 120 percent of their company’s value. But he says it’s still not easy for farmers. “The stopper program is a great opportunity, but it is also very intense.”
D66 MP Tjeerd de Groot also believes that the fertilizer and nitrogen policy is progressing too slowly and that both ministries and the agricultural sector have been waiting for this for years.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
