Farmers in Brabant must adapt their stables to nitrogen emission regulations

Farmers protested against it, and a coalition broke down in the provincial government building. But after seven years of discussion and postponement, many Brabant livestock farmers will have to comply with the stricter regulations on nitrogen emissions from stables starting Monday, July 1. A final attempt to give farms more time to adapt failed on Friday. The coalition parties VVD, GroenLinks, PvdA, SP, D66, and Lokaal Brabant stuck to the plan, which was intended to help "take the province off the hook," prevent further damage to nature and make road and housing construction projects possible again.

According to those parties and deputy Wilma Dirken (nitrogen), farmers have known since 2017 that the mandatory stable adjustments are coming and that they must do something. "The time of just sitting still and doing nothing is over. We don't have the luxury of saying to each other: let's wait a few more years."

The coalition that took office last year agreed that companies that showed goodwill and applied for a permit on time would not be bothered by the province after July 1. Companies that did not apply can expect a visit. For the time being, not to issue fines but to find out what is going on. Nitrogen emissions can also be reduced in other ways, for example by keeping fewer animals.

Seven years ago, the province decided that livestock farmers had to adapt outdated stables to reduce the emission of stench, dust, and ammonia. At that time, Brabant was the province with the largest livestock population, producing more than 15 billion kilos of manure per year. Farmers feared the consequences from the start because they had to make significant investments and work with stricter requirements than their competitors in the rest of the Netherlands.

The measure also caused unrest in politics. In 2019, the CDA left the coalition because the party wanted to get rid of the so-called 'stable deadline.' In the Provincial Council elections 2023, the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) ​​was the big winner in Noord-Brabant. The BBB does not want a stable deadline and, therefore, did not enter into a coalition with VVD, GroenLinks, and PvdA. The new provincial government then stuck to July 1 but gave dairy farms more time (until 2026) to make their stables more environmentally friendly.