Post by mdshamiul on Feb 15, 2024 7:12:22 GMT -5
The burning question is how much cattle the Netherlands should have in five, ten or twenty years. Some agricultural researchers say that for agriculture to be truly " circular ", a state in which as little waste and pollution as possible is produced, there will have to be much less livestock and a huge reduction in meat consumption, not just here. in the Netherlands but in all countries in general.
In models designed to promote recycling , some cows would remain; By feeding them food waste that would otherwise be thrown away, a limited number of animals would actually increase efficiency. But their total number would decrease drastically.
“Right now, the only way to have a business Singapore Email List model for a farm is to increase scale by reducing costs per animal and product,” van Doorn said. “So, it's a race to the bottom. The key to changing this is to create agricultural systems that have fewer animals, more value added to products and that farmers are paid to care for the environment.”
But such a big transformation won't be easy. Policymakers would have to win the support of farmers themselves, no easy task in the climate of mistrust and sometimes outright hostility that has come to define their relationship with The Hague.
Dutch farmers used to be much more integrated with the state, sitting on “production boards” where they helped shape agricultural policy. But when drastically reducing the size of government became the preference of the day in The Hague, they were discarded, along with other direct links to the countryside.
“I was on the local agricultural extension services board in the late '70s and '80s,” said Jan Slomp, a former dairy farmer. "Starting in the '70s I witnessed there being basically a 90% cut in government-funded services."
Now, convincing farmers to abandon the system they have become accustomed to and that has been imposed on them for decades will take time and hard work. Environmentalists and environmental advocates say they are hopeful that, with the right support and a restart of communication, enough farmers can move toward nature-positive models to achieve critical mass.
“There are many farmers who want to adapt their farm,” said van Doorn. "I've never talked to a farmer who said, 'No, I don't want to change.' But they need the right conditions.”
One of those conditions, crucial, is to ensure that the transition does not ruin farmers financially. Switching to nature-friendly agriculture is not cheap and involves risks. For a time, many farms would likely be less profitable. Banks are well aware of this risk; A 2020 analysis found that financial institutions in the Netherlands are reluctant to lend for investments in “innovative and environmentally friendly” agricultural practices.
In models designed to promote recycling , some cows would remain; By feeding them food waste that would otherwise be thrown away, a limited number of animals would actually increase efficiency. But their total number would decrease drastically.
“Right now, the only way to have a business Singapore Email List model for a farm is to increase scale by reducing costs per animal and product,” van Doorn said. “So, it's a race to the bottom. The key to changing this is to create agricultural systems that have fewer animals, more value added to products and that farmers are paid to care for the environment.”
But such a big transformation won't be easy. Policymakers would have to win the support of farmers themselves, no easy task in the climate of mistrust and sometimes outright hostility that has come to define their relationship with The Hague.
Dutch farmers used to be much more integrated with the state, sitting on “production boards” where they helped shape agricultural policy. But when drastically reducing the size of government became the preference of the day in The Hague, they were discarded, along with other direct links to the countryside.
“I was on the local agricultural extension services board in the late '70s and '80s,” said Jan Slomp, a former dairy farmer. "Starting in the '70s I witnessed there being basically a 90% cut in government-funded services."
Now, convincing farmers to abandon the system they have become accustomed to and that has been imposed on them for decades will take time and hard work. Environmentalists and environmental advocates say they are hopeful that, with the right support and a restart of communication, enough farmers can move toward nature-positive models to achieve critical mass.
“There are many farmers who want to adapt their farm,” said van Doorn. "I've never talked to a farmer who said, 'No, I don't want to change.' But they need the right conditions.”
One of those conditions, crucial, is to ensure that the transition does not ruin farmers financially. Switching to nature-friendly agriculture is not cheap and involves risks. For a time, many farms would likely be less profitable. Banks are well aware of this risk; A 2020 analysis found that financial institutions in the Netherlands are reluctant to lend for investments in “innovative and environmentally friendly” agricultural practices.