LTO sees too little room to talk more

As far as Sjaak van der Tak is concerned, the cabinet offers too little space to discuss the nitrogen approach further. “The ball is in the cabinet to restore trust,” says the LTO president, who, partly on behalf of 7 other farmers’ organizations, put farmers’ discontent on the table with the cabinet and Remkes at a first meeting.

Sjaak van der Tak was positive about the movement he sees in the cabinet, there are 3 topics that can be discussed: speeding up the legalization of PAS detectors, innovation as part of the solution and that the cabinet should do more wants to look at emissions rather than a deposit. “This is currently too little for farmers and horticulturists,” explains the LTO foreman. After his brief statement, Van der Tak left the provincial government of Utrecht, where the conversation took place in the council chamber, to continue to a meeting with other representatives to share his findings.

Sorry for the hubbub

During the first meeting between the sector and the government, the Cabinet apologized for the fuss that had occurred around the nitrogen ticket. “We take this criticism to heart and want to improve it,” says Rutte. Minister responsible Christianne van der Wal says it should have been better explained from the start that farmers cannot read from the colors of the map how much nitrogen reduction they should achieve themselves. She is disappointed by the resulting turmoil: “I honestly think it’s very bad. All farmers in the Netherlands live with uncertainty, but we cannot remove it quickly either. »

Emission control

Van der Wal finds it positive that now at least there have been discussions between the farmers and the government. And so the firm is ready to contribute ideas, for example on how to focus more on a company’s issuances than filings. This does not mean that the KDW is exempt from the law, explains Minister Van der Wal when asked. “The KDW is now the instrument we need for licensing. You need an ecological justification, which follows from the filing. But then the farmers say, you can’t hold me responsible for where the nitrogen is rushing, can you? And I understand that very well. That’s why we’re going to look at how we can better control emissions. Van der Wal calls it a “joint duty” for cabinet and farmer representatives to think about it further. As for ministers and moderator Remkes, there will definitely be a follow-up discussion. They will also continue to talk about innovation as a solution to reduce nitrogen and accelerate the legalization of PAS detectors.

The farmers’ organizations would like to negotiate the nitrogen targets upstream, which they consider unattainable, but the cabinet leaves no room for manoeuvre. “We are going to explain better why the targets are necessary,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

Everyone was able to lift whatever they wanted, critical nuts were definitely busted

The moderator of the discussion, Johan Remkes, described the conversation as constructive and found it particularly positive that everyone present was able to speak “without flour in their mouths”. The interview took over an hour longer than expected. “Everyone was able to discuss whatever they wanted, and the review notes were certainly hacked.” Remkes hopes his job as moderator of the cabinet’s attempt to reduce the nitrogen unrest will soon be over. “It is critical to break the current impasse and continue to rebuild trust between farmers and government.” He welcomed the attitude of the two ministers of agriculture, nature and food quality to engage in a more structured dialogue with farmers’ organisations. “Besides, it would be nice if the farmers could also take something positive home,” says Remkes.