2023-05-08 18:29:00
Hom or calf, swallow or choke. In the week of May 8, there really had to be clarity regarding the agricultural agreement, LTO thought. The farmers’ organization issued an ultimatum last month. Because the talks between the agricultural sector, Minister Adema and a number of other important players in discussions regarding agriculture continued. “We can keep talking endlessly, but repetition of arguments will not bring us any closer to a solution”, LTO foreman Sjaak van der Tak explained at the time.
And so on 8 May a draft agreement was on the table, elaborated by the renowned agency Berenschot. A text that ‘offers insufficient beckoning perspective’, LTO now states in a written response. So unplugged? Nope. Other parties also saw nothing in what is now on paper. The criticism was shared more widely. That offers enough perspective to make a last attempt.’
Beyond the nitrogen crisis
The agricultural agreement is intended to finally look beyond the current nitrogen crisis. Minister Adema hopes that this will lead to a vision of Dutch agriculture in 2040, and thus also to a future perspective for farmers.
However, the division in the polarized agricultural debate has been apparent for months now. At first weeks went by of bickering regarding who exactly can talk at which table. Until March, the parties complained that the content was barely discussed. The text should have been there in April. It did not work. Because there are major differences of opinion regarding the content.
The main pain point was initially mainly related to soil. Farmers’ organizations feared a scenario in which restrictions would apply to many plots. Nature objectives would also apply to those lands, as a result of which farmers are bound by stricter rules and can produce less.
This was one of the main reasons for Agractie to leave the consultation in April. LTO, Biohuis and the young farmers of NAJK will continue to talk on behalf of the farmers. The provinces, nature manager LandschappenNL and representatives of the supermarkets and the processing industry are also at the table.
Little progress
There are a lot of other questions behind that basic discussion, to which no answers have actually been found. Because if less can be produced on those lands, who is going to pay? And does that mean that there will be even more rules for farmers, for example regarding a maximum number of cows per hectare of land (in jargon: land-relatedness)?
While the sector keeps insisting that all those extra regulations are unworkable. Agricultural parties always emphasize that they want to work on nature and climate goals, but preferably in their own way: not with a hundred rules, but with one accountable goal that a farmer can achieve in his own way.
Only little progress has been made on such subjects, which are crucial for farmers’ organisations. A spokesman for Minister Adema explicitly mentions ‘goal achievement, land-relatedness and perspective’ as themes that are still being discussed. “After today, we had to conclude together that the concept document that is now available does not yet cover the load.”
So the very last attempt will follow next Wednesday. ‘In order to get there, major steps are still needed in the coming week’, concludes LTO. The omens do not seem very favourable. If you read between the lines, you will see that LTO and the Ministry draw the same conclusion: the draft agreement apparently did not yet provide answers to the main questions. And now a lot has to become liquid under pressure in order to formulate it in a week’s time.
Read also:
LTO: a decision regarding the agricultural agreement no later than the week of 8 May
The agricultural and horticultural organization LTO wants to have clarity regarding the final text of the agricultural agreement no later than the week of 8 May. The organization reports this on its website.
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