News item | 19-09-2023 | 3:30 PM
The budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) provides an impetus for the steps needed for the agricultural sector to contribute to the goals in the field of nature, water and climate and the perspective of companies. A total of €175 million will be provided for young farmers who want to take over a business, for strengthening the market for organic products, for farmers who contribute to nature through landscape elements and for the start of target management.
The Netherlands faces a major challenge to restore the balance between people and nature, water and climate. Major changes are needed so that robust, sustainable and innovative agriculture can continue to exist in the Netherlands in the future, in balance with the living environment, with good earning capacity for farmers, fishermen and other food producers. In addition, recovery measures are needed to make nature healthy and strong again. The budget for the year 2024 of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality contains the financial resources to tackle these tasks in a coherent manner. The budget for next year will total €2.86 billion.
Acceleration measures for the agricultural sector
At the end of August, the cabinet decided on various measures in the area of the necessary transition in agriculture. This concerns support for young farmers who need help taking over a business in the coming years. Young farmers want to contribute to a sustainable future. The government wants to give them the space to invest in this.
The government wants 15% of the agricultural area to be produced organically by 2030. Organic farmers show that sustainable entrepreneurship is possible, that organic agriculture can make a significant contribution to sustainability goals and it is therefore important that the sales market also expands. The government has made €50 million available for the years 2025 to 2029 to expand the sales market for organic products.
The government wants to achieve 10% green-blue interconnection by 2050. These are landscape elements such as trees, hedges and ponds that are good for biodiversity, water and soil quality. To this end, a start will be made in 2024 on the landscape elements attack plan, to which €15 million has been added. This gives agricultural entrepreneurs the opportunity to create more than 650 hectares of new landscape elements on their agricultural land.
It is important for the agricultural sector to be given the space to tackle sustainability challenges with entrepreneurship and craftsmanship. The government therefore wants to invest in the transition from means-based management to goal-oriented management and is making € 10 million available for this purpose. With this we intensify the development to, for example, achieve a substance balance, with which farmers can regulate the supply and removal of fertilizers and critical performance indicators (KPIs).
Strong nature
The second phase of the Nature program (2023-2030) will start in 2024, which the government, the provinces and site management organizations will implement together to restore and improve vulnerable nature areas. Provinces will submit implementation programs for this at the beginning of 2024. The Nature Inclusive 2.0 Agenda will also be implemented from 2024, which focuses on strengthening nature everywhere in the Netherlands, not just in nature reserves. In 2024, the focus will mainly be on greening financial flows. Finally, an additional €5 million will be made available each year for the years 2024 to 2030 to strengthen National Parks. This is in addition to the €1.3 million per year already available. The additional €35 million until 2030 can provide a significant boost to further development towards more robust National Parks.
Implementation of peak load approach
This year, the government started a national approach to peak loads in order to quickly reduce nitrogen deposition in vulnerable nature reserves. The approach is voluntary and focuses on approximately 3,000 companies – agricultural and industrial – that cause the most nitrogen deposition on overloaded nitrogen-sensitive Natura 2000 areas. On the basis of various (and partly yet to be published) regulations, agricultural entrepreneurs can choose to close their business location or redesign it through (combinations of) innovation, extensification, conversion or relocation. 1 billion euros will be transferred to the LNV budget from the reserved resources for the Rural Areas and Nature Transition Fund to finance applications for the National Termination Scheme for Livestock Farming Locations-plus (Lbv-plus).
Greenhouse horticulture and fishing
For the transition to a more sustainable greenhouse horticulture, 200 million euros will be available from the Climate Fund in the coming years for energy-saving measures and 300 million euros for the construction of heat distribution networks. This is part of the coherent package that was presented in the spring climate decisions.
€36.9 million has been reserved for making fishing more sustainable in 2024. The majority of this is used to make the fishing sector in the North Sea more sustainable and adaptable. In 2024, research will be conducted into further sustainability options, innovation and the development of co-use through (alternative forms of) fishing and food production in wind farms. In addition, the resources available for the chain and communities will be further developed.
Area programs
Restoration of nature requires speed; it is important that the transition of the rural area continues. The National Rural Area Program aims to develop the rural area sustainably, taking into account international agreements regarding nature, nitrogen, water and climate. The provinces, together with all those involved, have drawn up area programs in which the goals and plans are elaborated per area. When submitting these programs, the provinces have already submitted concrete packages of measures that can be implemented as early as 2024, in anticipation of all measures from the area programs. As soon as possible after the assessment of these packages by the knowledge institutions, the cabinet will submit an accelerated Incidental Supplementary Budget to add these resources to the LNV budget. This budget amendment makes resources available to finance the first packages of measures.