Elections: “Agricultural Capital Hollands Kroon must be economical with land”

Recent years have been turbulent for farmers. In addition to protests on tractors against national subjects such as the nitrogen problem, there was also plenty to discuss in Hollands Kroon itself: drawing up possible growth areas for business parks and data centers, and plans for more nature at the expense of agricultural land.

With LTO board members Wim Mostert, Henk Geerligs and arable farmer Simon Wilms, we look ahead to tonight’s debate. The Environmental Vision, the document that broadly outlines the future picture of the municipality, must be completed during the coming council term and is one of the important topics.

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Ground

It is special that we have a lot of agricultural young people here. That is really different in other parts of the Netherlands. There you see that it is difficult. Here there is a really large group ready to take over the work”, says Henk Geerligs, “That is a big advantage. But it is also a challenge: there is little land available.” His colleague Wim Mostert adds: “It is logical that they want to get started here. The ground is very good. We have water, we have everything.”

The land prices show that it will be a big step for the next generation to get started. “We are high in the area here, it is good ground. It still makes a difference where you look, but you can now pay around 115,000 euros per hectare,” says Simon Wilms. “I know that 20 years ago I paid about 35,000 euros per hectare,” says Geerligs. “Of course everything becomes more expensive and land is a safe investment, but this is three times over.”

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Nature

In recent years, several plans have caused unrest among farmers in the municipality. Think of area plans in which space was designated for business parks, greenhouse horticulture or data centers. But there were also major nature plans on the table. For example, for the area around the Amstelmeer where ground would be under water and the Wieringerhoek where agricultural land would have to be sacrificed for nature restoration around the IJsselmeer.

“We don’t just want to respond to plans by politicians or nature organizations in this area, but we want to take the initiative ourselves and have the space to do business”, says chairman Wim Mostert of LTO Hollands Kroon, “We are very active in this region, maybe even more than in other regions”. LTO is therefore also presenting a new concept tonight for the plans around the Amstelmeer, for which it has supplied the data to the design agency that also drew the earlier plans. “All parties benefit from this and it can be seen as a mindset,” says Wim Mostert.

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Land footprint

The board members explain the importance of agricultural land on the basis of the ‘Land footprint’, which will be the next theme during the debate on election night. “I think there is a role for the city council there,” says Simon Wilms, “I think people should be aware of that.”

“Every person needs 6000 m2 of land to meet their needs. Half is forest, the rest is for the production of food, biofuel and clothing,” explains Henk Geerligs. We need 17 million football fields. That’s 10 million hectares, but we only have 2 million hectares, so the rest has to come from the rest of the world. And how is nature arranged there? Should area be sacrificed for our consumption? How sustainable is that?”

Independent

Current topic due to the war in Ukraine, also known as the breadbasket of Europe, is food independence. Russia is also a major supplier of grain and fertilizer. But harvests and deliveries have now become uncertain. “We want to be less dependent on that. We have the feeling that the Netherlands feeds the world, but it’s just the other way around. We are fed by the umbilical cord of Rotterdam. So it’s about choices you make about land use, innovation and working efficiently. And we present the choice, but people do not know that story,” says Simon Wilms.

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Agricultural Capital

The importance of the sector within the municipality became clear when the title ‘Agricultural Capital’ was coined five years ago. “It went a bit rough in the beginning, although it is in the coalition agreement. But now, for a year, things are going really well,” says Henk Geerligs, who farms in the polder near Anna Pavlovna. His colleague from the area Simon Wilms is also sitting at the table: “When we started with the Agrarian Capital, we were also able to make it clear to the members that we are in the picture.”

“We are now the Agricultural Capital and we now want to take the step towards the Agritech Capital”, continues Geerligs, “You notice that there are all kinds of initiatives in the Kop van Noord-Holland in the field of precision agriculture and innovation. various parties are picked up, also by politics, both by the municipality and the province. In the field of innovation, we really shake hands. Farmers like to be involved and politicians also say that this is part of the future of the agricultural sector.”

Innovation

“Innovation is actually too low on the government’s list. There is so much to be gained in tackling nitrogen,” says Wim Mostert. “They should invest a lot more in that.” The region is not waiting for this, has already started work and would like to take on an exemplary role. “But first we have to connect in the Netherlands, there are a lot of initiatives, but we don’t know what each other is doing,” says Henk Geerligs, “”We want to cluster things here. There is a major role for Greenport Noord-Holland Noord, Mayor Rian van Dam is very busy with that. There is a smartfarming group and you can see that projects are now getting off the ground.”

“We hope that the Agrarian Capital will be included in the coalition agreement again, just like now,” says Wim Mostert, who is satisfied with the collaboration with the municipality. “You see that the message ‘we cannot miss a hectare’, from a report from Wageningen University, has landed well with the aldermen and civil servants. It is our starting point and of course there is space now and then. But we have to be careful with our land.”