Government plans in line with vision of dairy sector

The government wants to commit itself to setting up a food system that will help solving the climate problem. This commitment, as formulated in next year’s national budget, is in line with the course that the Dutch dairy sector wants to embark on.

Climate-neutral growth in dairy sector

The sector has set specific goals for 2020 with respect to climate-neutral growth. In connection with the recent growth of the sector, more efforts will be required for further reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases. This subject is high on the agenda for the Climate Conference to be held in October. A broad range of organisations, both international, such as the UN agricultural organisation FAO in its ‘Decade of Action on Nutrition’, and national, e.g. the Health Council of the Netherlands in its advices (dairy fits in well with a sustainable and healthy diet), see that an important role is reserved for them, also in the future.

Implementation of phosphate rights

Apart from this, the government rightly gives high priority to the implementation of phosphate rights. The Dutch Dairy Association has declared itself in an early stage to be in favour of the implementation of these rights that are in line with the vision of the dairy chain, being that dairy farming is a land-related sector that must be able to develop itself within the environmental limits. By setting a limit to the phosphate production in the dairy farming sector, the national phosphate production by the dairy farms can be kept below the European phosphate limit. This brings in sight retention and extension of the derogation of the EU Nitrates Directive, which is indispensable for the sector.