The Drents Program Rural Area (DPLG) is dead, long live the future -oriented rural area Drenthe (TLGD). The new provincial program for the countryside must strengthen agriculture. But it must also offer a solution for nitrogen and PAS servants and make new developments possible. And achieve all water and nature goals.
But how that should be done is not at all clear. It is clear: there will be an agricultural main structure where agriculture has the leading role. No Drenthe rules on top of the national and plans and it needs to be devised more together with the farmers. And on a voluntary basis.
At the same time there are legal goals, rules and tasks from The Hague and Europe. The puzzle is just as large as before the Rutte IV and Schoof cabinets fell. So what the future national policy about water, nature, nitrogen and climate will look like is unclear. But the Provincial Executive does not want to wait for a new cabinet.
A year ago, the cabinet Passed the so -called National Program Rural Area (NPLG) to reduce nitrogen and restore nature. The Drenthe elaboration thereof (DPLG) was therefore also on the slope.
The Provincial Executive (GS) wants to work out the legal tasks and EU obligations in the new area program. Including all the tasks until 2030 that are not yet in the policy.
According to GS, that should be done with a greater role of agriculture. That is choirs on the mill of LTO Noord, the Drents Agricultural Youth Kontact and the Drentse Boermarken that have been finding it for a long time.
But whether it will be enough for them? LTO leader Arend Steenbergen called on Drenthe politics not to keep up the course of recent years. “Too much top-down from the provincial government, no support, too much nature, ecology and too little agriculture and social economy.” Drentse Boermarken chairman Johan Moes: “Do it from the bottom up! Farmers are also nature managers!”
Agricultural deputy Gert-Jan Schuinder (BBB) says that it will go much more in consultation with the farmers. Good examples are, according to both Schuinder and the agricultural advocates, how the farmers in Veenhuizen and Zeijen have started working.
In Zeijen, the farmers themselves have a method to monitor and improve both the water quantity and water quality. In Veenhuizen, farmers have devised a complete plan to reduce their own nitrogen emissions on the Fochteloërveen.
Schuinder: “We are going to do it from below. But we can’t just sit with everyone in the Village House in Nieuw-Balinge and ask: how are we going to do it? We have legal goals to achieve in the field of nitrogen and water quality, so we set rules as a province.”
Schuinder does not yet know what the so -called agricultural main structure should look like. “But we are not going to draw any boundaries. That will only make everything more difficult and then we will lock ourselves even more.”
It is clear, in that main structure, agriculture and food production are paramount. Intensive agriculture. “Beyond that, it is more about extensive agriculture or in combination with nature development,” says Schuinder.
LTO leader Steenbergen: “The province has a lot of agricultural land, intended as an exchange ground. Give that land back to agriculture as quickly as possible. That land is needed to give farmers perspective and get all the assignments.”
Boermarken chairman Moes: “The national government buys agricultural land but the province is also there. There is no control whatsoever and that has to be done.”
BBB and the Agra sector mainly insist on voluntaryness in all planning. Schuinder: “There are many voluntary ways in our toolbox and that will remain the case for the time being. Think of the critical performance indicators (KPI).”
Farmers are rewarded for goals they achieve, not to implement measures. “We are not going to wait for The Hague. We have been working on this target management for almost 10 years.”