Greenhouse horticulturists are sounding the alarm. Due to rising energy prices, they barely keep their heads above water.
In a letter to Minister Jetten of Climate and Energy, seven hundred greenhouse horticulturists throughout the Netherlands expressed their concerns.
“Within a year, the cost price for energy in this greenhouse has increased from 175,000 euros to three million.” Flower grower Rick Melenhorst from Erica is somewhat lost among the alstroemerias. It is his last cultivation of the lily-like cut flowers this year. “We are going ‘cold’ in our greenhouses. That means we will not be using any energy in the coming winter months.”
It will be exciting times. Melenhorst has never turned off the heating in the greenhouses before. “I expect that the plants will survive. The flower is originally from South America. It can also be cold there in the mountains.” Production will drop. Melenhorst expects to have flowers again in May next year.
The grower from Erica is not the only one who has trouble keeping his head above water. Greenhouse horticulturists from all over the Netherlands signed the letter to Minister Jetten. “The minister can in any case provide an aid package for entrepreneurs,” says Cees Ruhé, chairman of Greenhouse Horticulture Netherlands in the Drenthe region. He also hopes that there will be support for continuing the energy transition in greenhouse horticulture. “If you need all your money to pay for the energy, you can no longer invest in sustainable resources.”
Grower Rick Melenhorst will have no income this winter. “It’s very frustrating. It happened to us and we can’t do anything about it. I hope I can make it.”