Dutch nitrogen rules endangering french fry production

The Netherlands’ nitrogen policy puts the production of french fry potatoes at risk, according to Andries Middag, director of the Association for the Potato Processing Industry (Vavi). Soon, the Netherlands will have to get potatoes for fries from abroad, he told AD.

The government is implementing limits on the cultivation of eating potatoes on sandy and loess soil to reduce nitrogen leaching into groundwater. Minister Piet Adema (Agriculture) set a deadline of October 1 this year, when all potatoes have to be removed from the soil. From that date, the farmers must plant a “catch crop” that prevents nitrogen from leaching into the groundwater.

Every arable farmer who does not plant a catch crop before October 1 will be penalized in the form of reduced nitrogen permits for next year’s cultivation. That means less nutrients for crops, less yield, and less income.

“This could be the death of the cultivation of french fries potatoes on sandy soil,” Middag told the newspaper. “Many potatoes are still in the ground in September and October for a reason. They must ripen and harden off sufficiently before being harvested. That is necessary for processing.” Watery potatoes won’t cook properly.

Potato grower Pieter Evenhuis from Giethoorn can’t understand why the government put a hard deadline on this measure. “All kinds of government regulations nowadays encourage us as growers to live more with nature and use fewer pesticides. This form of calendar agriculture does not fit in with that,” he told the newspaper. Farmers can’t decide based on the calendar when to plant or harvest - that depends on the weather.

This year’s cold and wet spring is clear proof of that, Evenhuis said. “I have eight employees. They have been at home regularly for the past few weeks. Simply because the land is too wet to plant potatoes.” The later the spuds go into the ground, the later their growth start, and the later they’re ready for harvest.

The deadline for harvesting will also flood the potato processors with more potatoes than they can handle, Vavi director Middag added. “We have an extremely efficiently coordinated system,” he said. “Factories are already running 24 hours a day. There is no capacity to process everything in September at once, even if that were possible in terms of cultivation. From a commercial and logistical point of view, this decision by the Ministry is a huge miss.”

The agriculture sector has raised its objections with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, trying to get Adema to change his mind about the deadline. But the Minister referred to the mandatory implementation of the 7th Nitrates Directive Action Program. The European Union demands that member states, including the Netherlands, protect groundwater quality by reducing leaching.