Ministers Van der Wal and Staghouwer call on the farmers’ organizations to still talk to the moderator Johan Remkes. Earlier today, the Agricultural Organization LTO announced that it would not do so. LTO thus joined Farmer Defense Force and Agractie, who also see nothing in a conversation with Remkes
Nature and nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal and agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer call on farmers’ organizations to enter into discussions with “discussion leader” Johan Remkes. They hope that the organizations will use this opportunity to put their concerns about nitrogen policy on the table with Johan Remkes “just now”.
A spokesperson for the ministry informed the ANP this after the refusal earlier today by the representative LTO to talk to Remkes.
LTO Nederland announced earlier today that it would no longer enter into a debate with Remkes and thus joined the more activist farmers of Agractie and Farmers Defense Force.
“A dictate”, LTO called the plans of the cabinet to reduce nitrogen emissions as “a dictate”. The organization fears “with such large-scale interventions in the short term clear-cutting in the countryside”.
Earlier this week, LTO was still moderately positive about a possible conversation with Remkes, who was called “an administrative heavyweight with deep knowledge of the nitrogen file” in a statement.
At the time, however, LTO made the reservation that the current plans for nitrogen reductions and the associated reduction in livestock numbers should be open to discussion; it had to be possible to talk about “the real pain points”. “If that space is not there, then a conversation simply makes no sense.”
The organization has now come to the conclusion that there is no such space.