The agricultural organization LTO withdraws from the negotiations on the agricultural agreement with the cabinet. The farmers’ organization has that on Tuesday evening announced after consultation with the ministers.
LTO chairman Sjaak van der Tak said that the draft Agricultural Agreement lacks prospects for farmers. The government would also not do enough for the so-called PAS reporters: farmers who were allowed to work without a nature permit, but have been in legal trouble since the Council of State blocked the government’s previous nitrogen approach in 2019.
“If you don’t talk to each other in this intensive way for ten years, and you think that confidence will be restored in six months and with an Agricultural Agreement, the tasks are increasing, the intentions are there, but farmers cannot live on intentions” said Van der Tak. “That is the hard conclusion for tonight. You see: entire LTO board is here. We’ve worked hard on it. We went to the hole. That’s what you have to do tonight.”
Future perspective
Agriculture minister Piet Adema (ChristenUnie) called the resignation of LTO “extremely disappointing” and “a very big missed opportunity”. Adema said there is a draft agreement that is 95 percent complete and would include good future prospects for farmers. “I feel bad about it,” Adema said. “It is now also a while for us to process.”
Adema did not want to anticipate whether this means the end of the Agricultural Agreement, because the so-called ‘main table’ will be updated tomorrow. He did, however, confirm that he had previously said: ‘no Agricultural Agreement without LTO’. With the resignation of LTO, two smaller agricultural organizations remain at the negotiating table: Biohuis and NAJK for young farmers.
Adema also did not want to anticipate his own position, nor that of the cabinet. “I’m still a minister, I think.”
Adema previously emphasized that an Agricultural Agreement is also important for renewed cooperation between the government and the agricultural sector: “I very much hope that we will restore the polder in the Netherlands, because it is necessary that there is a polder in the Netherlands. That has also made us great.”
Last week, LTO already suspended negotiations on the Agricultural Agreement, but after a follow-up meeting with Prime Minister Rutte and five ministers, Chairman Van der Tak still spoke of “crucial steps” by the cabinet. On Tuesday evening, consultations with LTO were continued by ministers Piet Adema (Agriculture, ChristenUnie), Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen, VVD), Hugo de Jonge (Housing and Spatial Planning) and State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief (Mining, D66).