There is a chance that farmers in our country will be allowed to spread less animal manure on their grassland from next year. The European Commission wants to put an end to the exceptional position that the Netherlands has had for years. LTO Noord chairman Dirk Bruins is surprised and thinks that the measure ‘doesn’t touch anything’.
Brussels has been pushing for stricter treatment of Dutch farmers for some time now. That is why the exceptional position, also known as ‘derogation’, was granted ‘only’ two years ago two years ago instead of the usual four years. There were also stricter conditions attached to it than was previously the case. The Groningen agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer has been warning farmers for some time that they should take into account that the derogation will be abolished altogether.
LTO says in a response that the Dutch agricultural policy is ‘setback after setback’ for farmers. “Loss of derogation is a black scenario for circular agriculture. It means that a smaller part of the total required soil fertilization may come from fertile animal manure, and therefore a greater dependence on fertilizer (and thus gas). This costs approximately 10,000 to 20,000 euros extra. for farmers, without improving the environment. If the Ministry of Agriculture still wants to offer any future prospects, then derogation should really be arranged in Brussels,” says a statement from the farmers’ association.
“We have 150 dairy cows at home. At the moment I can fertilize all my land with my own manure. If the new rules were to come into effect, this means that I have to dispose of a few thousand cubic meters of manure – that is dozens of trucks full. I also supply a large number of trucks with fertilizer to fertilize the land. You can imagine: farmers really don’t understand this anymore.”
Whether the possible tightening will lead to an escalation of farmers’ actions in our country? “Farmers will be very frustrated and angry about this,” Bruins replies. “It will cost them a lot of money and the measure does not contribute to meeting the nitrates directive.”