Impasse for province: Government pays out much lower subsidies for agricultural innovation

Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Quality (LNV) distributed the budget of 1.3 billion within all Dutch provinces for the so-called ‘frontrunner projects’. These are projects that can contribute to the recovery of nature in the short term.

Randomness in distribution

At the request of the ministry, all Dutch provinces submitted projects last year that can be realized quickly. The province of North Holland submitted seven of these frontrunner projects. An application for 80 million euros. This included the creation of a nature reserve in Waterland-Oost, the drifting of dunes in Bergen and the planting of forests. The province also focused on limiting nitrogen emissions and making agriculture more sustainable by testing innovations on farms. Of the seven frontrunner projects submitted, only two have been assessed for content, it now appears.

Much to the dismay of deputy Jelle Beemsterboer (BBB): “We have ambitious plans to achieve our goals and those of the government. But this is becoming almost impossible.” He speaks of arbitrariness in the distribution of the billion-dollar budget. The province only received 12 of the 80 million requested. The fact that the province of South Holland has received a subsidy for a shared project is a sore point for the province and, according to it, underlines the distribution on the basis of arbitrariness.

As a result, the other five projects remain on the shelf. Without financing for the projects, there is a risk that they will come to a standstill, but the province also fears a loss of trust that has been built up with area partners.

Frank de Wit also fears this. As chairman of the agricultural nature association Water, Land en Dikes, he is involved in several leading projects. Projects that mainly focus on nitrogen reduction, carried out by the farmers themselves. According to De Wit, many farmers are not as activist as they are often portrayed in the media, and most simply want to move forward and innovate.

But this situation is also causing patience among these ‘well-intentioned’ farmers, according to the chairman. De Wit: “Farmers think they have finally found a reliable cooperation partner, but when it comes to implementation, there is no delivery. In the end, the government withdraws its opinion. That does not create confidence.”

De Wit also speaks of a random distribution. According to him, the government is acting as an unreliable cooperation partner. “You can keep talking and writing reports. But it has to happen in the areas. Otherwise it will remain on paper. I can see the consequences of the arbitrariness: the parties are drifting apart. How is it possible that one is allowed to continue and the other is blown back and no one knows exactly why.”

Limited capacity

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality said that it first carried out a so-called quick scan when distributing the money. An external party has looked at which projects submitted by the provinces are the most urgent and most promising for financing.

“Due to limited capacity at this external organization, the North Holland measure was not included, just like several other measures from various provinces.” The spokesperson here refers to the arbitrariness accused by the province, and therefore contradicts this:

The ministry regrets that the province is disappointed, but also indicates that it cannot provide all the necessary subsidies at once. According to the spokesperson, the alternative was that no budget could be reserved at all, and certain leading projects would therefore be even further delayed. “We found this undesirable, since the financing of the frontrunner projects is precisely intended to enable us to continue with the area-oriented approach in the short term.”