The presentation of the agricultural agreement is still pending. The cabinet hoped to present the agreements between politicians, the agricultural sector and nature organizations sometime this month. Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema has now announced that it will be mid-May at the earliest.
According to the minister, the parties are “still very far apart on a number of themes.” In addition to nitrogen, these points would concern manure and soil rules and agreements with supermarkets and animal feed companies, among others.
The conclusion of an agricultural agreement comes from the ideas of Johan Remkes. Last year he spoke with farmers, administrators and other stakeholders with the aim of breaking the nitrogen impasse. The agreement should give farmers prospects for the future again. About fifty to sixty parties from the agricultural sector, nature clubs and governments are participating in the talks.
The fact that reaching an agreement is not an easy task is apparent from, among other things, Agractie’s decision to withdraw from the negotiations. LTO also contested signing the agreement this spring.
Adema keeps the option of “negotiation result without signature” open. The agreements will then “stay on the shelf, and then we’ll see what happens next,” he says.