The urgent appeal to the government of the province of Brabant to quickly provide more money to reduce nitrogen emissions has helped. Before the end of the year, Brabant will receive 45 million euros to help farmers build low-emission stables. Farmers in Brabant must have applied for a permit for such a barn before 1 January 2024. The money from The Hague will therefore come in time to be able to give farmers extra subsidies to build the stables.
The stable measures are part of the Brabant Development Approach Nitrogen. They make a very important contribution to achieving the goals that the central government sets for the province. A nitrogen reduction of 50% in 2030. Provincial administrator Elies Lemkes of Agriculture and Food: “Fortunately, we have been investing in innovative stables for many years and we are pleased that the government funds are being made available early, so that farmers can invest in them.”
Advantage when applying for a permit in time
In order to be able to make the necessary barn adaptations on time, livestock farmers must also apply for a permit in time. About 2200 livestock farmers have yet to do this. This could lead to an enormous peak in applications next spring and therefore to an overload of the environmental services that have to assess all those applications. Farmers who apply for a permit before 1 April will receive an additional financial compensation. For farmers who do this before 1 January, the extra compensation is even higher. That too is paid from the 45 million from the government.
If you apply for the permit on time, but have not received it in time, the province will give you more time to realize the barn adaptation. The province is also allocating three hundred thousand euros to strengthen the team that must handle all permit applications. In this way Brabant hopes to prevent a blockage of the system.
Available barn systems
A housing system that reduces emissions is not yet available for all animals. This applies to beef and breeding bulls kept on straw, certain free-range chickens, rabbits and broiler turkeys. It has therefore been decided to adjust the requirements for these animal categories regarding the reduction in ammonia emissions. These livestock sectors are therefore given some extra space to make good barn adjustments.
If you don’t want a new barn system at all, then as a farmer you can choose to become nature-inclusive. An exception to the licensing obligation applies to these and organic companies. This is because these farmers already have (or are getting) sustainable business practices and thus contribute to achieving targets for soil and water quality. That is why the province is making extra money available for the Biodiversity Monitor. Livestock farmers can demonstrate that they are nature-inclusive via the Biodiversity Monitor, a kind of calculation model.
No absolute certainty
Meeting the obligation to build a low-emission barn still does not provide absolute certainty that your company does not have to disappear in order to achieve the nitrogen targets. Due to the uncertain future for livestock farmers, banks now often do not want to cooperate in providing a loan for that low-emission barn. Deputy Lemkes sees this too and says he will enter into talks with the banks. “We are doing very well in Brabant. There is no reason at all not to help farmers with financing. I’m going to talk about that.”