Nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands: Don't buy out farmers, but retrain By: Rianne Lachmeijer Do not buy out farmers, but have them switch to a nature-inclusive business model. Starting with the farmers who operate their farms near Natura 2000 areas. This is what nature-inclusive farmer Maurits Tepper argues for. “Buying out is not an option,” he says in Koplopers. “It is not wise to have all farmers scale down now,” says Maurits Tepper. Instead, he advocates that the government incentivize farmers with laws, regulations and money to help them switch to an integrated business model. Starting with farmers who are close to Natura 2000 areas. Nature-inclusive farming does not mean that farmers give up on profitability. On the contrary, Tepper emphasizes. Tepper successfully applies this model at his Eytemaheert nature farm. “We have a closed company. We do not feed our animals concentrates and do not use fertilizers from outside the company. So no fertilizer or manure from fellow farmers either,” he says. “Our cows have to make do with grass from cradle to grave.” “Our cows have to make do with grass from cradle to grave, because grass is something we as humans cannot consume. We have grazers for that. They can convert that grass very nicely into high-quality products: milk and meat.” Profit for nature and the farmer Tepper has been working in a nature-inclusive way for a number of years. He is already seeing an effect: meadow birds are returning and phosphate emissions are decreasing. At the same time, he makes a profit. “We currently produce 22 liters of milk per cow per day. With the robot, without fertilizer, without concentrate, without fuel.” He does not need to mow, because the cows always graze a new piece of grass that he demarcates. They also walk to the milking robot themselves. Electricity for the milking robot, water and the soil make up the largest part of its costs. During a tour of his farm, he met a typical farmer who produces 30 liters per cow, but has all kinds of extra costs. For kilos of concentrate, extra maize cultivation and fuel for the tractor that mows grass for the cows in the barn. “Profit is often in the costs. If you have low costs, it will always have a positive effect on your return," Tepper emphasizes. Due to the relatively low costs of his business in combination with efficiency through technology, he does not have to compromise on profitability. Feeding the world's population in a nature-inclusive way Tepper believes that a nature-inclusive model can work for many farmers. A few farmers who are good at it should continue on the high-yielding tour. But the rest can and should switch. “We need to find an agricultural system where there is simply a balance between production and the natural resources available.” Ecologist Louise Vet agrees with Tepper. She expects it to be possible to feed a growing world population in an environmentally friendly way. “The food production will really work,” says Vet. Now 40 percent of the world's land is in poor condition. “You really won't be able to do anything with it in terms of food production. So that means you have to bet in a regenerative way to use soil.” The knowledge is there to improve those soils in a way that also increases crop yields. This means that Vet and Tepper look positively to the future. We must quickly switch to new forms of agriculture, but then the opportunities for improvement are great. Tepper: “Nature is resilient.”