… Starting Monday, farmers in parts of the Netherlands can apply for compensation to scrap their pig-holding rights, thereby ending their business, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Monday. The government will also compensate farmers for the loss of value of pig stabling… The Netherlands is the world’s second-biggest agricultural exporter after the U.S…
Dutch Government Plans to Shrink Hog Industry
Netherlands offers as much as 151 euros per pig to reduce herd
Hog farms causing a bigger stink more likely to get subsidy
By Ellen Proper, Bloomberg
November 25, 2019
The Dutch government plans to make its pig farmers pass a smell test: hog operations causing the greatest odor nuisance will be most likely to receive a payout aimed at shrinking the country’s swine herd.
Starting Monday, farmers in parts of the Netherlands can apply for compensation to scrap their pig-holding rights, thereby ending their business, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Monday. The government will also compensate farmers for the loss of value of pig stabling.
The government says fewer pigs means less odor nuisance and a better living environment, as well lower emissions of ammonia, in the European country with the most cows and pigs relative to land area. The Netherlands is under pressure from a court ruling to cut nitrogen emissions, and sees lowering highway speed limits and cutting back on pig farming as first partial fixes.
“We’re facing an important task: making the pig industry more sustainable and future proof,” Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten said. “For farmers who continue, there will be a measure early next year targeted at innovation and reducing emissions.”
Pig farms will be graded on an odor scale, with those higher on the smell score more likely to claim a termination subsidy, according to the ministry. Aid will be available only for areas of high livestock density in the east and south of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is the world’s second-biggest agricultural exporter after the U.S…
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