Getting up before dawn seven days a week to take care of two hundred dairy cows: there is no lack of passion for farming life for dairy farmer Bart Wesselingh (33), who manages 82 hectares of land with his wife on the Ringdijk in the Amstelveen polder. Still Bart wonders aloud how long they can keep this up. “All those changing rules are destroying me emotionally.”
Although Bart has only been an independent agricultural entrepreneur for two years, the farmer’s existence has been introduced to him from an early age. “I was trained to work in construction, but my parents had a farm,” he tells AAN! and NH News. “I think being a farmer is the best thing there is. I was lucky and given the opportunity by my parents to become a farmer and I take care of my animals with passion.”
“Want to send my kids to school in smart clothes”
Farmers across the country are currently suffering from the (uncertainty surrounding) forthcoming nitrogen regulations. To protect Natura 2000 areas, nitrogen emissions in the surrounding areas must be reduced considerably. Because livestock emit a lot of nitrogen, the government is targeting the dairy sector. It is clear that livestock must shrink and farmers must sacrifice at least part of their livestock. However, it is still not known exactly to what extent each farm should lose weight.
Bart and his wife Francis also suffer from this uncertain future. The thought that they will soon be forced to say goodbye to half of their cows touches them deeply. “Then I really have to look for another solution, because I still want to send my children to school in neat clothes.”
Farm location
Recent developments do not make it any easier. Bart recently discovered that the location of their farm creates additional uncertainty. Although the farm is located in North Holland, the nearest Natura 2000 area is Botshol in Utrecht, next to the Vinkeveense Plassen.
“As a result, I not only need a nature permit for North Holland, but also for Utrecht,” explains the farmer. Because he is registered in the province of Noord-Holland, the province of Noord-Holland must maintain him. “But they know nothing about the nature permit that I have concluded with Utrecht. So I don’t have the idea that they already know how they want to make provincial policy for borderline cases and want to enforce it. That will be a thing.”
Nitrogen emissions or nitrogen precipitation
Nitrogen is released when cow dung and urine mix (nitrogen emission), it rises and precipitates in a different place depending on the wind direction (nitrogen precipitation). Because the nitrogen reduction is intended to protect vulnerable nature areas (Natura 2000), less nitrogen must be emitted close to those nature areas than in areas further away from them.
When asked, the province of Noord-Holland has stated that it will indeed discuss the enforcement issue with neighboring provinces. “The Bovenkerkerpolder is of course not the only borderline case. It also happens the other way around: that the nature reserve is located in North Holland and the farmer is located in another province, so those discussions are certainly underway.” The spokesperson cannot say exactly when the farmers concerned will receive more clarity, “but I estimate that this will not take long.”
Low-emission floor
Another downer that Bart recently had to deal with is a decision by the Council of State. It ruled that the nature permits of three dairy farmers had to be withdrawn because their low-emission floor (a floor that separates cow dung and urine, releasing less nitrogen in the form of ammonia) has insufficient effect.
Bart also has such a low-emission floor, in which he has invested a lot of money. “That barn gave me my conservation permit. This allowed us to double the number of cows, and by increasing animal welfare and breeding quality, milk production has tripled.”
It is not yet known whether the recent decision of the Council of State also has consequences for Bart’s permit, but the Nature Conservation Act does not bode well. It states that an ‘existing nature permit must be revoked if it no longer meets the guidelines that protect natural habitats’.
“It feels like you’ve built a nice house, and then the judge decides you can’t use half of it”
According to him, the fact that the usefulness of the low-emission floor is now being disputed fits in with a pattern that makes the farmer’s work increasingly impossible. “Policy changes every few years. For example, the milk quota, phosphate rights, derogation and now the low-emission stables”, he sums up measures taken in recent years.
“It feels like you build a beautiful house according to the latest requirements, which are extra sustainable and environmentally conscious, and then the judge decides that you can’t use half of your house because it does not meet the requirements.”
meadow birds
Finally, Bart expresses his concerns about the possible deterioration of the land that will no longer be used if the livestock is halved, and the meadow birds. “We have been working here in the polder with the Boeren van Amstel for twenty years to increase the number of meadow birds.”
He continues: “Subsidies have also gone into this, for example to mow and fertilize fields later, so that meadow birds can use it as a breeding area and the chicks can run off on the plot.”
“If you halve your company, this kind of nature will also change. That nature is all connected with each other. There are now animals here and plants grow that are area dependent, because we farmers manage it that way.”