The Province of Gelderland Wants To Dastically Reduce Nitrogen Emissions Within 500 Meters or Vulnerable Nature Areas. This should make it Easier to Grant Permits again. The Plans Hit Farmers Hard, and they are Calling on the Province not to process with the plans.
Jan Bolink is Clear After Reviewing The Nitrogen Plans of the Province of Gelderland. “I think it’s ridiculous. I wonder howhings will continue,” Says the dairy farmer from Brummen.
The 52-Year-Old Bolink is one of the boxes of Farmers who came to Engelenburg Castle in Brummen on Tuesday Evening. The Plans of the Province of Gelderland Hit The Agricultural Sector Hard. The Province Wants To Create A Buffer or 500 Meters around Vulnerable Nature, Where Nitrogen Emissions Must Be Drastically Reduced.
That’s a significant area: The Entire Veluwe is included. Also, around the narrower nature areas estate brummen, familiar, and Willinks Weust, thesis 500-meter zones must be created.
In Summary, Gelderland Wants Livestock to Emit Less Nitrogen and Less Manure to Be Applied to the Land. This means that Farmers can keep fewer livestock or need more land to keep their livestock and spread manure.
Many Questions Remain Unanswered
There are four hundred farmers in those zones, 4 percent of the total number or farmers in Gelderland. This May not Seem Like a Lot, But The Farmers Involved Are Angry and Have Many Questions, As was evident on Tuesday Evening.
It is of not clear what the rules mean for them Exactly. What will be the maximum emission by animal? How much manure can still be spread on the country? And there may be subsidies, but how much, for whom, and for what exactly? Several Farmers’ Action Groups, Including AGRACTION, LTO Gelderland, and the Dutch Dairy Farmers Union, Have Already Called on the Province Not to Proced with the Plans.
Michiel Koetsier also does not Yet Have Answers to All Questions. He is a Program Manager at the Province of Gelderland. These are not yet definitive plans, he indicates. Changes Are Certainly Still Possible.
“In the coming months, we will be talking with everyone who is affected,” Koetsier Explains. “We are not saying: this is it, swallow it.” The College of Provincial Executives Will Finalize The Package in January, and a Decision Will Follow in September Next Year.
Koetsier is aware that the new rules can hit farmers hard. “If your company is locationed within a strip or 500 meters of vulnerable nature, then the chance of growing is small. These companies must focus on extensification (Ferwer Animals per hectare of land, ed.) And Sustainability. Yes, Some-Phartsalers STOCSMERS STOP. This Processtals Willtalers. This Processtals. This Processtals. This Processtals. This Process is definitely not on: farmers must leave. “
Lower Speed at Night and Electric Construction
Not only Farmers are affected by the nitrogen plans. Gelderland is Considering a Lower Speed Limit on Highways at Night. Companies must use 35 percent less gas.
Housing Construction is also affected. There are 60,000 homes in the nature zones (6 percent of all houses in Gelderland). Another Eight Thousand Homes Must Be Added in Those Zones.
Duration Construction, narrower machines May Only Be Electric. Larger machines must have a clean engine. Gelderland is Considering Applying This To The Entire Province later.
Province Calls It ‘Exciting Whether It is Enough’
What also Bothers Many Farmers is that the new Gelderland Package of Measures Comes on top of other new rules that farmers have leg subjected to in recent years. “I’m a bit skeptical,” Says 24-year-old Lars from Loenen. HIS Parents Have a Dairy Farm with 120 Cows, and He Anyge Wants To Take Over The Business.
“To comply with thesis rules, we need more land to dispose of all the manure. That costs a lot of money,” he says. “The Future for Farmers Has Been Uncertain for So Long, and As An Entrepreneur, You Want To Move Forward.”
His Mother Adds: “We are willing to cooperation, but the question is always: Will the Plans Hold? In recent years, Several Plans for Farmers have ultimately not gone through.”
Carriage Thinks That “More is Possible” in the Area of Permit Granting with the Plans. But he also calls it “exciting Whether it is enough.” “It provides air close to nature. We did not because to keep waiting until other parties would take action. We also continue to look to look to the hague for new nitrogen policies.”