Dutch government to pay livestock farmers to shut down their businesses

The Dutch government isn’t messing around, approving a massive €1.5 billion scheme to compensate farmers for the closure of their farms.

The scheme will only be available to farmers whose businesses emit especially high levels of nitrogen dioxide, of which there are 3,000. Those who voluntarily opt in will receive a large grant for shutting all farming operations involving livestock.

To better paint the picture of just how lucrative livestock farming is for the Dutch, the national statistics office reported that agricultural exports raked in €122.3 billion for the country last year.

This figure puts them just behind the US in terms of earnings.

Considering that the Netherlands is the world’s second-biggest exporter of agricultural products, the success of the plan will create a huge step forward in meeting the global target of slashing nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions by 50 percent before 2030.

Though it’s been great for the Dutch economy, this high level of livestock farming has brought dangerous levels of biodiversity-destroying nitrogen into the environment.

The current level of nitrogen emitted by the Netherlands alone is breaking EU safety regulations.

So far, proposed steps to get closer to green targets haven’t gone down well with Dutch farmers. They haven’t been happy about plans set out by authorities, as they feel their industry is being unfairly targeted.

There have already been government discussions on reducing livestock numbers in the country by a third, which led to many farmers fearing that they’d be forced to close their businesses entirely.

This new scheme, though entirely voluntary and generous in terms of its pay-out, is likely to add insult to injury.

We’ll have to wait and see how the success of the scheme plays out. Until then, I’d say enjoy your imported Gouda while you can.