Agriculture giants snatching up farms out from under gov't buyout scheme: report

Agricultural giants like Van Drie and Klaremelk are buying up farms on the Veluwe, including from farmers who were negotiating with the government to close down their businesses. Sources told Omroep Gelderland that the big farming businesses are offering more than the government does. They say they want to preserve modern stables.

The current government buyout schemes for farms are more interesting to farmers with newer stables because they are worth more. Van Drie and Klaremelk say they want to preserve these more modern stables and prevent them from being demolished when the government finds new uses for the land.

“In order to achieve the sustainability goals that we have agreed upon as a sector, it is desirable to retain stables that are future-proof,” Van Drie told the broadcaster. Van Drie acknowledged that it was buying up companies. It would not say how many or where, or how many were in buy-out negotiations with the government. “It concerns a few calf farms with which an agreement has been concluded and a few with which discussions are being held,” a spokesperson for the group said.

Klaremelk, with locations in Speuld and Hardewijk, gave a similar response. “It is not relevant how many companies are involved and whether they were also in discussion with the government. The point is that we want to keep modern stables,” a spokesperson said. The buy-out scheme is “capital destruction,” the company said. “It seems as if the government wants to buy and demolish as many modern stables as possible, which are a lot more sustainable than older stables. The buy-out scheme may mainly leave old stables remaining. They will then disappear automatically. In the long run, there will be no sector left.”

According to Omroep Gelderland’s sources, farmers would much rather consider offers from Klaremelk and Van Drie because they offer more money and don’t ban the farmer from opening another farm. In some cases, they can even continue to work for Van Drie or Klaremelk on their farm. Neither company would respond to the broadcaster’s questions about this.

Minister Femke Wiersma of Agriculture told Omroep Gelderland that she is aware of the large agricultural companies buying up farms. “Every farmer who voluntarily terminates his or her business has the freedom to choose how to do so. The aim of this Cabinet is not to have as many farmers as possible stop, but we want to support the farmers who do want to stop,” she said.

According to the minister, the agricultural giants aren’t jeopardizing the nitrogen targets. “Only if this were to happen on a larger scale, and we are not aware of that, would it affect the nitrogen reduction that we achieve through regulations.”