The farmers’ interest group Agractie “provisionally” walked away from the negotiations on the agricultural agreement in Ermelo on Thursday. For Agractie foreman Bart Kemp, too few results were achieved during the talks: “We have negotiated for three months and we have not made any progress.”
Agractie and about thirty other participants have been meeting since January about the Agricultural Agreement on the future of Dutch farmers after 2040. Participants include farmers, nature managers, provinces and Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema (CU). In advance, a spokesperson for Adema told ANP news agency that the “real pain points” would be discussed.
According to Kemp, his hopes for a “reasonable compensation” for converting farms close to vulnerable natural areas were “sprinted to the ground” during the talks on Thursday. It was also clear earlier that Agractie entered the talks with little optimism; Kemp’s club threatened to walk away from the negotiating table before.
‘Discussion continues’
The Agriculture and Horticulture Organization (LTO) believes that Agractie has left the negotiating table too quickly, and has no intention of cutting off the talks. According to LTO chairman Sjaak van der Tak, it is essential for farmers’ interests to remain in conclave with the government and other stakeholders about the agricultural future. Moreover, according to Van der Tak, the negotiation is not yet complete: “This discussion is continuing and that is why we are staying at the table,” he said after the conversation in Ermelo.
Minister Adema also regrets that Agractie does not want to continue talking: “Agractie would be doing its own supporters a favor by staying at the table”. Broadly speaking, Adema was “positive” about the talks: “I have conducted many negotiations, and you can only draw conclusions when an agreement is on the table. It wasn’t that far yet.” Adema intended to hand over an agreement to the House of Representatives at the beginning of April. With the provisional departure of Agractie, that goal seems optimistic.
Extensify
The talks, which have been going on since January, should explicitly not be about the biggest bone of contention for agricultural organizations: nitrogen policy. However, according to some participants, conversations about the future of agriculture cannot be held without addressing that subject.
Dairy farmers’ organization Dutch Dairymen Board announced on Monday that it would leave the consultations because a large part of the land for dairy farmers will go to nature in the future, among other things. A spokesman for Adema told ANP that the negotiating table is a “unique opportunity” to exert influence for the agricultural sector. The cabinet is committed to ‘extensifying’ agricultural land. In other words: a reduction in the number of animals per hectare, especially cows.
With the cooperation of Rosa Uijtewaal and Philip de Witt Wijnen
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