New nitrogen thresholds: ‘Incomprehensible, many investments are being postponed’
Many farmers also have few options to reduce their emissions. And so the end is imminent when their current license expires.
The Flemish government has not come up with a real nitrogen decree. Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir has therefore set thresholds for ammonia emissions. These are also turbulent times for Dirk Vandecandelaere, a cattle farmer from Wervik. “I have an impact score just above 0.025. And according to the instructions, I can no longer get a new permit at the moment.”
As it stands now, Dirk can possibly continue with another eighty cows. But there are colleagues for whom the end is imminent. At the time, however, they also invested heavily in reducing nitrogen emissions. “The measures we took then fall outside the reference period. The decrease we realized then is no longer taken into account.”
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Agreements not fulfilled
“There was a compromise, agreements had been made that have not yet been fully fulfilled. And then one ends up in a political game with such things: incomprehensible for the sector.”
Many agricultural companies are now postponing investments for the time being. And the succession – also here – is no longer assured. “That certainly weighs on the family businesses, on all companies. You do your best. You try to make good use of all available techniques, both in terms of environmental standards and animal welfare. And yet you are condemned as the culprit. This is also very detrimental to the succession of young people in agriculture, because entrepreneurship is undermined.”