Nine dairy farmers from Baarlo in Overijssel conducted an initial exploration to reduce nitrogen deposition in their polder, to combat soil subsidence, to reduce CO2 emissions and to give space to nature and biodiversity. It remains to be seen whether the overall plan is feasible. ‘The government must also become flexible and creative.’
Albert Hulleman (50) recently quit the dairy farm in Baarlo that he ran with his brother. ‘My brother is single and lives next door to us. I don’t have a successor myself, our children are studying and have no intention of becoming farmers,’ he says.
‘Moreover, our barn was more than fifty years old and needed to be replaced. Then what are you going to do? We had to ask ourselves whether a company like this has our future, because it is only 750 meters from Natura 2000 areas Weerribben de de Wieden.’
The brothers decided to put an end to the company in the Baarlingerpolder. The province of Overijssel bought the land and the stables are partly demolished. Hulleman and his family will continue to live there, just like his brother. They won’t stop completely just yet.
You can place the extensively managed land with nature management and meadow bird management close to the Weerribben. The ground is a bit wetter there
Sander Pereboom, Baarlingerpolder process supervisor
The in-laws of Hulleman have an outdoor vegetable farm with a dairy branch a few kilometers away in the Noordoostpolder. The sale of the dairy farm in Baarlo made it possible to buy 20 hectares next to the company in the Noordoostpolder. This expands the field vegetable branch.
‘My brother is going to do the dairy branch there, I will mainly continue in the vegetable branch of the company,’ says Hulleman. ‘It is of course a specific and unique situation, but it does fit into the puzzle that we have to put together in the Baarlingerpolder.’
Business plans
The farmer and his brother are part of a group of nine dairy farmers in the Baarlingerpolder. The polder is close to Blokzijl and the Weerribben-Wieden National Park. Together with the province of Overijssel, the farmers want to find out how they, as agricultural entrepreneurs, can take measures in this polder to reduce nitrogen deposition, prevent soil subsidence, reduce CO2 emissions and give space to nature and biodiversity. This must also be done in a way that does not make their competitive position vis-à-vis colleagues worsen.
‘We sat down with a group of farmers from this area in 2021 with the province to discuss this,’ says Hulleman. ‘Then we as farmers suggested: we make our own plan.’ This resulted in the Baarlingerpolder pilot. The trial is intended to become a blueprint for the regional processes that will eventually take place throughout the country within the framework of the Provincial Program for Rural Areas (PPLG).
The Baarlo farmers themselves design the plan for future-proof farms in the area. The result must be an executable plan with an inventory of future plans and business models for the nine entrepreneurs. Important conditions are that all those involved support this target and that no one is left behind.
Sander Pereboom is initiating the process together with Janke Kloosterman. ‘On average there are two hundred cows per farm here, but there are big differences between them. In size, but also from very extensive to very intensive. Eight farmers have a conventional business, one farms an organic one.’
The nine have already puzzled and prepared an initial reconnaissance. One conclusion is that at least two, but probably three farmers will have to leave the area in order to achieve the nitrogen targets, among other things. Hulleman is one of them, a second entrepreneur said that he would like to move. The released land is used to extensify the other farms.
Technical solutions for emission reduction may be possible for some companies. A lot exchange can ensure that the right soil ends up in the right place. ‘For example, you can place the extensively managed land with nature management and meadow bird management close to the Weerribben. The ground is a bit wetter there,’ says Pereboom.
subsidence
Incidentally, studies are still ongoing in the polder about the height of the water level and the CO2 emissions as a result of the subsidence. So the first exploration of the group of farmers is not yet complete.
‘We have indicated that we have a clear picture of the impact of soil subsidence in the coming years and how we can combat this. It has also become clear that the area hardly emits any CO2 due to the existing clay layer’, says Pereboom.
The leader of the area process states that it is clear that the process remains a search for what is possible and permitted. And to see which policy of the national government, province and municipality is best suited to this. ‘We learned a lot from it’, concludes Pereboom. An important conclusion of the farmers involved is that a transition must take place not only in the agricultural sector, but also in the government.
‘We have noticed that we can switch gears much faster than a province, for example,’ says Pereboom. ‘A lot is still unclear, the rules of the game are not there yet. Legally you also quickly run into limits. This applies, for example, to guaranteeing certain measures or to possibilities for relocation without state aid. Companies that will continue here in the future want the guarantee that they will not have to leave again within a few years. They also want to be able to adapt and develop their business. How do you guarantee that?’
According to the dairy farmers in Baarlo, the province in particular needs to get going quickly. ‘The implementation of an area plan cannot take years. Companies have to move on. Overijssel must therefore immediately seize all opportunities that come by. The province must buy up companies and land and start up a lot exchange. And above all make it clear how they will tackle the extensification of the companies that remain.’
Top sport and efficiency
The latter concerns the nine entrepreneurs. 33-year-old Bert-Jan de Boer wants to continue his dairy farm with 260 cows that produce almost 3 million liters of milk annually. The company is intensive and the young entrepreneur does not consider himself suitable for nature-inclusive farming. ‘I’m more into top sport and efficiency,’ he emphasizes. De Boer exchanges a lot of land with arable farmers from the neighboring Noordoostpolder. Here he can easily dispose of his manure and grow grass.
Still, De Boer would like to have more land of his own. ‘The company is just too small for technical measures such as a mono-fermenter and nitrogen cracker. This type, but also other techniques, are not yet guaranteed.
‘If I want to have more land at my disposal and therefore expand, that must be financed. I don’t see my bank doing that yet if there are no additional revenues. So I will first have to be given the opportunity to lease for a long period of time. Only when the head of my financing is off will the purchase be discussed.’
The dairy farmers in the Baarlingerpolder also expect creativity and flexibility from the province of Overijssel in this area. ‘You could think of hire-purchase constructions or the lease policy needs to be overhauled,’ says Pereboom. Municipalities must also anticipate. ‘If companies close down and stand empty for a little too long, things will impoverish. That has an impact on the quality of life in the area and requires an active policy.’
Pilot is one of Overijssel’s Frontrunner projects
The pilot in Baarlo is one of the Province of Overijssel’s Koploper projects. Nine dairy farmers in the Baarlingerpolder, located between the hamlets of the Netherlands and Baarlo near Blokzijl, serve as an example for the whole of the Netherlands. The farmers are investigating through an area process how they can take measures. These must reduce nitrogen deposition, combat soil subsidence, reduce CO2 emissions and give space to nature and biodiversity on their farms. A Koplopersproject helps companies and other organizations to do more sustainable business in an inspiring and practical way and thus work on a future-proof organization and sustainable products and services. In turn, these front runners enthuse other entrepreneurs and thus pull the pack along. Together they ensure a strong and future-proof regional economy.
2023-07-31 16:57:05
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